


The Adventures Of Ketchum And Fletchinger

by Cheshire_On_The_Line



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Character Development, Gen, Logical Realism, Magical Realism, Pokemon Interaction, Worldbuilding, character flaws
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-06-28 17:01:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19816621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheshire_On_The_Line/pseuds/Cheshire_On_The_Line
Summary: Ever thought that the Pokemon Anime was lacking in the worldbuilding department? And story realism? And probably even decent storytelling?This is my take on the adventure of Ash Ketchum as he travels Kanto, with friends new and old and a little more (or a lot more) logic behind everything.For what would be an adventure without some blood, sarcasm and swearing? (Ashes bad luck included)





	1. They way things are

**Author's Note:**

> This is born of my need to explain how things work and a great deal of thinking. Mayn things are different. Most of them have a logical reasoning behind it, or just plain common sense.  
> There is one thing you need to know before you read - just like in LOTR there are Orcs and Elves, here there are fantasy humanoid races. (I basically just looked at some pokemon and their description and wondered how the hell they do not have a social structure of their own and then given them one)  
> The list of added races is in the note at the end.  
> Anyway, enjoy reading or don't, but I certainly enjoyed writing it! =)

When Delia Ketchum found out she was pregnant, she knew she would have to stop travelling. But it was the moment she held the tiny squirming bundle, with her eyes and his father’s hair, that she knew she would do anything to make her son Ash happy.

She settled down in her hometown, Pallet, and found a little flat for both of them. It was difficult and often lonely, as her then husband was not willing to give up his wanderlust. Delia found solace with her mother, who gave her a job at the family restaurant and a handful of friends, all mothers of small children.

When Ash was four, Delia went through an amicable divorce. His father, a successful trainer of his own right, made sure they didn’t have to worry about money, making it possible for her to buy a little house. And even though her life was at times difficult, things broke and problems stacked themselves against her, she solved it all, one step at a time.

Very early on in Ashes life, Delia noticed how perceptive the boy was. He was clever and curious and tried to be friendly with anyone he met. When it was time to have him go to kindergarten, she had him go with the slightly older kids, believing he will be alright.

And he was.

When it came to academics, he started to lag behind, slightly under average. Delia sat with him, did homework with him and helped him study the best she could. The year she lost her mother and her friend was hard for her. She didn’t have as much time, but Ash coasted through and further on, dreaming about adventure, battles and all the places and people he could see. He clearly had his fathers wanderlust, something that worried her.

So when Ash turned ten and yearned for a pokemon, she did not allow it. She was afraid that her boy would one day leave and never come back. She knew it was silly, but fear did rarely follow logic. After two years she realised that Ash, as much as he was yearning for adventure, was not his father.

She made a deal with him - she would let him go to preparation camps and when he would graduate, he would receive a pokemon.

He readily agreed.

Even though he was not a quick learner, he made it through all the camps - pokemon handling and basic first aid, survival training that took up his whole summer and the final seminar on Pokemon Association officiated rules for battles, contests and other pokemon related subjects. As his graduation grew closer, so did the realization that he would not be fifteen, the required age for receiving a Trainer Card for independent travel, but fourteen.

Ash would need a chaperone.

* * *

The most interesting thing about Maddox Fletchinger was her name. Anything else about her was wholeheartedly usual.

Ashy, pale pink skin and spindly, short stature pegged her and her family to a strong Medicham lineage, but mixed enough so that she had five fingers instead of the normal four.  Being in one of the four minorities in the mixed town that Pallet was, most of her troubles were brought from her height of pitiful one and a half meters rather than racism.

But now in the warming weather of April, she wasn't focusing on her mediocrity, nor the fact that she was once again witness to her mother's long boasting of her older, successful brother. No, she was nervously gnawing on her nail as she scrolled through her school material.

Unlike many classmates, she didn't have a pokemon of her own. Her parents believed it to be a distraction from school and now, that her brother was a runner up in the Indigo League tournament, they believed that she should go about her training career, if any, the exact same way as he did.

So two months before the end of the school year, at the ripe age of fifteen and not ten, as many others, she was to receive a pokemon of her own.

Something small, probably.

She didn't know what her parents had planned for her, only that Elliot was getting it for her. So she might expect a pathetic little creature, a disgusting bug, or a bizarre combination of both.

Maybe worse – he could get her a Slugma. He knew how much she was tactile in affection and what better thing to do than give her a pokemon that will set you on fire if you touch it.

Maddox sighed.

She should give her brother the benefit of a doubt - he wasn’t that horrible, after all. He was not malicious, just up for mischief, a trait that made his starter a match made in heaven.

She shook her head and turned back to her essay about the types of algae that can be found in the shallow waters in the docks of Pallet Town. Not the most interesting of topics, but if it got her a sure A, she would write a seminary on it.  Maddox read the document one more time, deemed it good enough, saved and closed it. Then she got up and walked to the kitchen, roused by the promise of snacks and sounds of the front door opening and closing.

Moments later she was accosted by the snaking arms of Ambipom, who trilled and jumped in excitement at finally being home.

This meant that Elliot was here.

His starter was Aipom, a reckless and accident-prone purple monkey that he received as a gift for Winter Solstice.

Now, they were famous.

His return ment a big dinner and an evening spent on the couch, listening to all his tales, warm and happy, and it was an evening well spent.

* * *

The next day, late morning, when Mads felt up to deign everyone with her presence, she was met with excitement. Her mother, Rebecca, sent her to change and make herself presentable while doting on Elliot like he has not eaten properly in a week.

When she was ready, they were pushed outside and dragged along the pavement, heading north.

It soon became clear where exactly were they going, towards the only place with official Pokemon Association connections. 

The laboratory of the famous Professor Samuel Oak.

In his mid sixties, the man was still as active and spritely as ever, warmly greeting them when they got there with offers of tea and biscuits. Sitting and chatting about mundane things made her restless, after all, the occasion was not just a social call. The good professor must have noticed, since he kept the pleasantries short.

She was about to receive her first pokemon.

Now Mads didn't know what it was going to be. The decision was left to her parents and Elliot. As in her previous musing, expecting something cool or powerful - or both - was out of question.

And even though she knew not to dream too high, her excitement was rising alarmingly fast and keeping her composure was getting harder.

The professor, being a theatrical man at heart, brought over to her a platter covered with silky cloth, one prominent lump sitting in the middle.

A pokeball.

With a "Tada!", he yanked the cloth off. 

The force was enough to catch on the enlarged ball and it flew off the platter, spinning in the air. Both Mads and Elliot reached for it, trying to catch it.

If a moment could be captured in slow motion - the exact moment the cloth came off - the panorama of expressions would be phenomenal. Professor Oak was still grinning, the siblings had their arms outstretched, wide-eyed with mouths forming zeros in a ridiculous way. Their mother was staring, camera in hand and Ambipom, still as accident-prone as he used to be, was reaching for the falling ball as well.

But this moment didn't last.

In their panicked scrabble for the pokeball, Elliot was smacked in the face, the platter went smashing down as well as the Professor and the pokeball jumped twice between the palms of Elliot and Mads.

And then, it opened.

Something small and yellow appeared in the air, panicked, flailed it's many legs and latched onto the first solid surface available.

The left side of Mads head.

Seeing something small and fluffy in your periphery while that something latches onto you with what was definitely more than two pairs of limbs sent Mads' instincts into high alert. She gave a high-pitched yelp, reached for the thing and flung it off her.

The poor yellow creature squeeked and then oomphed as it was safely snatched by the deft tail-hand of Ambipom.

It then gave another squeek, reared back and bit down onto the hand. Ambipom twitched but didn't let go, years of battle-training prepared him for sudden pain.

When the clatter of the broken platter, which was just a normal ceramic plate, finally stopped ringing in the air, only then did anyone speak up.

"Oops." The Professor pipped up from the floor. The room erupted in activity - Elliot hauling the older man up, Rebecca started to panic and apologise profusely to the professor and Mads tried to get a clear answer of what they actually got her.

An amused chuckle came from behind them, from the doorway, where a newcomer stood. Spiky hair, black polo and a smirk on his face stood Gary Oak. His sudden presence calmed everyone down out of embarrassment.

"Well, that didn't go quite as planned." Said Professor Oak as he looked at the shards now littering the floor. "Anyway." He cleared his throat and turned to the two pokemon. He lowered himself to eye level with the tiny fluff and smiled warmly.

"Hello, Joltik. I am sorry I pulled your pokeball off, it was not the goal of that. You know that today, you are going to meet your trainer, yes?"

Four glossy, blue eyes peered at him from the purple palm of Ambipom, focused on the man. The creature, Joltik, nodded with the front half of its body.

Professor Oak smiled again, glad that the little creature was not completely scared off.

“A Joltik?” Asked Mads silently. She didn’t expect an answer and startled when one came from behind her.

“An electric, spider-like bug.” Gary watched as his grandfather calmed the pokemon down. Even with all his poise and ego, he didn’t want to interrupt by being too loud.

“Spider?” Mads didn’t care much about being quiet, because panic started to come back to her.

Gary chuckled. “You afraid?” She didn’t see him, but his smirk was audible. It was a challenge.

“No.” It was a lie and he knew it too, but let it go for now.

When Professor Oak was done calming the panicked spider, he turned around to Mads and plopped the Joltik into her palms. She tensed, waiting for it to bite her or start scurrying around, but it did neither.

The four blue eyes darted across her features, looking at her in slight wonder.

“Um, hi.” She was expected to be excited, but that was the only thing she could muster. A quick glance at her mother made her aware of everyone staring at her. So she gave it an awkward smile. Nevertheless, the little electric spider seemed to accept it, trilling back at her. Mads cocked her head to the right and finally lost the tension.

She readjusted her grip on the creature so that it would be less likely to fall, and lifted it up for closer inspection.

Someone to her left went “Awww.”. She snapped her gaze at her brother, glaring. The moment was gone.

Mads received a file from the breeder who raised the tiny yellow fluff, containing all the details she could possibly think of. It turned out it was a he, little spider boy, and that he was fond of cashew nuts, apples and flies. 

That evening, when Mads and Joltik were preparing for bed, she turned to him.

“Okay. So, You gotta know something.”

Joltik trilled a question at her.

“So, I am still kinda on par with spiders. Few years back, an Ariados took four people before they found it and killed it. I know you are not even close to it and you won’t be eating any people, but still. A spider, so...” She nervously played with the hem of her pyjamas, squirming under the double gaze of her new pokemon.

“Anyway, just letting ya’ know. It might take me a few days to get used to ya’. Don’t take it personally, ‘kay?” The fluffy creature perched himself on the edge of his plushy, pillowed cardboard box and trilled again.

Mads had no clue what he was trying to say, but took it as an “okay”.

The trill was a strange sound. Melodic enough to be tolerable, but hard to describe. It was a mix of static from a walkie-talkie, clacking of teeth and the “priii” sound that her Togepi message notification made.

Right at the edge of sleep, she decided to read up on Joltiks tomorrow and give her best effort into getting along.

As weeks rolled by so did Maddox’ apprehension of spiders. She got along with the young electric critter well, spending most of her free time with him being present. Soon enough, they decided on him having a name of his own – JJ.

JJ claimed the top of her head as his perch and happily observed everything from his vantage point. He was loath to go into his pokeball, mainly because he was so small he could easily hide in her bag or in her pocket.

Before Elliot headed out for Hoenn, he trained with them. He taught both of them how to be effective in training, to give thought into what they were doing and know when to stop, when to rest.

All the things he learned the hard way. 

By the time they were waving him goodbye, her head was spinning with information and the added weight of JJ.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, the fantasy races are:  
> Alakazam, Machoke, Mime, Jynx, Haryama, Medicham, Gardevoir, Gothita.  
> One more thing - english is not my first language, mistakes and blunders happen. And an overabundance of commas.


	2. Change of plans

It was bright and early, or at least that’s what it felt like to Ash Ketchum. The school year was already over and with it came his pokemon journey.

Today would be the day he became a pokemon trainer.

Today would be the day he received a pokemon, a young Charmander he has been promised, and would set out, with company, to see the world.

With these hopes he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked at his nightstand to see the time, only to find the alarm clock gone. Searching for it, he noticed it lying across the room on the floor, smashed to bits.

Ash frowned.

He wasn’t an early riser, he knew that.

So what woke him up so early?

Unless it wasn’t as early as he thought.

Panicked that he would not receive his pokemon and the Trainer Card, he flew out of his bed, heart beating wildly.

He raked a hand through his hair, hoping it would be enough to tame it. He spotted his new jacket and shoved it on, then ran from his room past his mother. He hastily put his shoes on, shouting about being late before he sprinted out.

What if the Professor gave the Charmander to someone else? Or -

The laboratory came into view, as did a gaggle of people outside it. He saw a lot of parents of older kids talking to each other, some saying teary goodbyes to their new travellers. Then there were parents of younger kids who just received their pokemon.

He looked at them with a tinge of jealousy, panting from the run uphill. When he caught his breath and pushed through the diminishing crowd towards the entrance, a voice called out his name.

“Hey Ash! Nice pyjamas!” It was someone he considered his rival - Gary Oak. When they were little, they used to be inseparable, but as time went on, Gary got more popular and Ash was left behind.

He wasn’t bitter about it, he found new friends, but they still tried to one-up each other. Gary usually won.

Ash looked at his green pyjamas. They were nice, honestly, but being seen by most of his peers in them was still embarrassing.

He felt himself turn red as Gary’s call made more people turn his way. He couldn’t think of anything clever to say, so he just gave an awkward smile, a little wave and then he dashed inside the lab. In the corridor, he almost collided with a short, pale pinkish-gray girl with a yellow spider on her head.

She looked him over, saw the pyjamas, and gave him a sympathetic smile.

“Oh, ’m sorry Ash. But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll work it out with Professor Oak somehow.” She patted him lightly on the shoulder and headed outside. This renewed Ashes panic.

Was he really too late?

Could nothing be done?

Will he really have to wait another year to go on a journey?

Professor Oak was in the lobby, smiling brightly and chatting with a pair while their children played with a Skitty.

“Professor Oak!” Ash rushed up to him, ignoring the parents. “Professor! Am I too late? Please tell me that you didn’t give my pokemon to someone else! I don’t want to wait another year, please!”

All the questions tumbled out of him, all his fear, too quick to give the older man a chance to answer. When he finally stopped talking, professor Oak put a hand on his shoulder.

“Ash, breathe! Calm down, lad.” Then he looked at the pair apologetically and started leading the panicked boy away. “Come. I’m going to make you some tea.”

When they were out of sight, professor sighed.

“I am sorry Ash. You know something like that can always happen. Just know, none of us could have done anything about it.”

“Professor! You really gave my Charmander to someone else?!” Ash felt very close to actual tears. Not that he would admit it to anyone.

“What?! Of course not! I would never do such a thing. I am the middle man, it is not up to me to decide what anyone gets.” Ash was pushed into a chair and a moment later, the kettle was boiling.

“Then… Can I have it? The Charmander?” Renewed hope made him spring to his feet, but a firm hand pushed him back down again.

“Ash… Haven’t your mother told you?” The professor looked down at the boy’s attire and smiled knowingly, “Ah. I think she didn’t get the chance.”

“What is it?” The mood turned somber again, even with the steaming mugs of honeyed tea.

“See… Remember when I told you that three months ago, the Charmander you had reserved fell ill, yes? That’s why you didn’t get it earlier.” Professor Oak took a sip of his scalding tea, weighting words.

“Well, as it turns out, the little guy didn’t get better. I received a message earlier this morning. It didn’t make it.” He looked at the boy, anticipating his reaction. He was good at research and pokemon, but that profession didn’t give him much experience with young people or their emotions.

Even if he was tasked with taking care of his grandchildren.

“He’s… He died?” Ash said it very silently. If he wasn’t looking at him, he might have missed it completely.

The older man nodded, reaching for the boy’s shoulder once more.

“Ash. These things happen. It has been sickly for the past three months. Clearly whatever was the issue would come around if it went with you.” He wasn’t sure if the boy even heard him.

“Ash. I am going to go and call your mother. I know you really wanted to travel, we may work something out.”

* * *

When Mrs. Ketchum arrived, almost everyone was gone. She was invited inside, given some tea and then, a lengthy discussion began.

Since Ash didn’t have a pokemon of his own, he was not eligible for a Trainer Card. Without it, he would have to pay for stay and food in PokeCentres he would inevitably visit. He would not be able to enter Gym Tournaments or Contests. He would be just an ordinary tourist.

Hearing it laid out as it was, both adults saw Ash wilt more and more, sullen. 

There were still things that could be done.

Reserving a new pokemon could take a long time, since skilled breeders always had a lot of work and pokemon raised surrounded by people were highly sought after. They couldn’t be picky and at that point, it was possible they could get a pokemon not well suited for a new trainer.

Before he went into alternatives, professor Oak sent Ash to the kitchen to help Daisy with lunch. He didn’t want to give him false hope, because the other options he was about to go through were based on pure luck.

There was a chance that one of the trainers that left their pokemon with him would be okay with giving one away, but that would require talking with them. Unfortunately, a lot that belonged to other trainers were frequently sent away and then came back few months later.

Another option, one that he was not very inclined to include, was in the other pokemon that frequented his ranch.

While many belonged to trainers, some local wild pokemon learned to come for food. They were friendlier, often to the point of physical contact, but this was risky.

As with the pokemon of other trainers, there was a chance the pokemon would not accept Ash as his or her trainer. They could fight, possibly injure him, or just completely disobey him. 

Even as something small as Ratatta could kill a grown man.

The final option was to ask one of his fellow researchers. He knew one who was often surrounded by young pokemon - Jordan Elm. He had a big lab specialised on breeding, cross-breeding and genetically carried mutations, often due to adaptation.

His lab also produced many pokemon that were given out by Pokemon Association. Being a time where many received their pokemon, he might not have any left that would be suitable for a new trainer.

But Jordan was also a friend and former apprentice. It might not be fast, but he would be inclined to help.

When he told that all to Delia, she looked just as tired and sullen as Ash did. There was hope in her, but she was worried how Ash would take the inevitable wait. She thanked him for all the information, got up to get Ash and then they went home, none of the enthusiasm of a new journey that usually was in the air during these days.

Hours after they left, Samuel Oak decided to try calling Jordan. The other man had a family of his own, but he hoped that he would not be interrupting him in anything important.

“Hello. Professor Oak, we haven’t spoken in some time. How are you?” Jordan sounded slightly tired but happy, something that was a persistent emotion one had when working with baby pokemon.

“Ah, hello Jordan. Now please drop the formalities and call me Samuel. I believe I have told you to do so long ago.” The younger man chuckled and agreed.

“I am well, although probably just as tired as you are. How many new trainers have you sent off today?” 

“Well, some came from Cherrygrove, and Newbark is always growing. There will be more next year, no doubt about that.”

Samuel sighed, thinking about all the trainers he sent off into the world. Pallet Town was big, sprawling, yes, but big nonetheless. He cleared his throat, not wishing to keep the younger researcher away from his family and work for long.

“Unfortunately, that is not quite why I am calling, I am afraid.”

“I gathered as much. What can I help you with, Samuel?” There was a smile in his voice, amused by the directness of his senior.

“Yes, well. You see, I have one boy here. He had a little Charmander reserved, but it was sickly. This morning, I received the message that it passed away.” He heard the other man hiss in sympathy.

“It is always sad when something like that happens. Especially if a young person is involved. I can reserve him one of mine here, if that is what you are after. But I am afraid it will take time, four months at least.” He heard a scratching sound through the line as the man rubbed his jaw in thought.

“The ones that weren’t given away are too young for a new trainer. But that should not be a problem, surely? The kid won’t go travelling for another few years.”

“Ah, well that is the problem. The boy has already graduated. His mother didn’t want him to be distracted from studying.” Samuel felt a headache coming from this.

“Oh boy. That does complicate things.”

There was a pause filled by shuffling papers and few swears as Jordan spilled his already cold coffee.

“Okay. So, I have looked into my database. Now I am keeping some specimen here for research and those I cannot give away. But...” There was more shuffling.

“There is one in the batch that I was hesitant to give away. It is somewhat... Unruly. Since I didn’t have anyone older than eleven coming to get pokemon, I didn’t feel like this particular fella would be suitable, but if the boy is fifteen...” Samuel straightened up, happy that there was another alternative for the Ketchum boy after all.

“Jordan, that is much better news that I had about this particular problem all day.”

He heard a nervous laugh on the line.

“Well, don’t celebrate yet. So the little Pikachu, he is a piece of work. It was giving hard time to my aids and only relented when they earned his respect. It would be a challenge to train him, but I think it could be done. Definitely not for solo journey though.”

Samuel nodded even though Jordan couldn’t see him and smiled.

“Well, the boy is good-hearted and I am sure they will create a good bond soon. He is very friendly. And I would not have to worry about him going alone, he is not fifteen yet, so he would be chaperoned anyway. I believe he agreed to go with two of his classmates.”

The stress of today was finally catching up to him and he was feeling more tired by the minute.

“If you don’t have anything against it, I will tell his mother about it and call you with the decision tomorrow or day after that. Thank you for helping.”

“Very well, and don’t mention it. I like helping young trainers, even more with situation like this. There is something enchanting about giving someone hope.”

Maybe three minutes later, they said their goodbyes. 

Now he had to tell this to Mrs. Ketchum. He got up and swayed on his feet, blinking to chase away tendrils of sleep.

Tomorrow.

He will tell her tomorrow.


	3. How Fletchinger became a chaperone

The day he was supposed to head out into the world, Ash woke up early. It was still murkily dark and he didn’t feel like getting up at all.

Nor sleeping, to be honest.

He didn’t quite know what to do with himself.

So he curled up, hoping to be oblivious to everything for another few hours.

When he woke up again, there was a platter of breakfast on his nightstand and his phone was ringing.

He grabbed it, almost getting a handful of eggs, looked at the caller and waited until they gave up.

Yes, they were his friends. He was supposed to go travel with them, actually. Connor with his excitable Minccino, Jasper, and Harvey and his recently evolved Roselia. They agreed to go with him even though he and the Charmander would be severely behind.

They spent days planning their journey. Where they would start, what they will do and go see. They had a route mapped out, starting in Cerulean and travelling south, along the eastern coast.

His phone started ringing again. It was Connor this time.

Ash sighed and took the call.

The three met up at Harvey’s house. He had a big map of Kanto on his wall, full of pins that marked their journey.

Well.

It wasn’t Ashes journey anymore.

When him and his mom came home after the lengthy talk with professor Oak, they looked up breeders and available pokemon.

The earliest were in two to three months. Not ideal, if they were planning on leaving today.

The two already had tickets for the aerobus, Ash didn’t bother to get his own.

“Hey. Ash. This isn’t the end. You will get to travel, and we still want you with us, man.” Harvey nodded along, fiddling with his glasses.

“Yeah man. Once you get a pokemon, you’ll join up with us! So what if you’ll miss Cerulean. You’ll catch up in Etonstone or Lavender. We’ll be knocking about long enough to still have a big part of The Plan ahead of us.” He gestured to the map hanging on his wall. He had a smaller one already folded up in his backpack, ready to go as everything else.

Ash looked at the map, still as miserable as before. He didn’t want to wait alone while everyone was out travelling.

Nevertheless, his friends managed to talk him into some semblance of a mood and promised to stay in contact. They said their goodbyes at the aerobus station and that was where Delia Ketchum found him, ten minutes after the departure.

She took him back to professors lab, telling him what he told her. She watched as hope surged back behind his eyes and it warmed her heart to see him happy again.

They decided to take the Pikachu, as ironic as it seemed to Delia. His father had a Pikachu starter as well, faithful to each other, together till the end.

Even if she did not have any of the pokemon she used to travel with, she knew something about raising them and would try to help her son as much as possible while he was still in Pallet.

She feared the day he would leave, but knowing how much he wanted to travel, how much time he spent with his friends planning their trip, it squashed that fear like a ripe strawberry. Keeping him here would do him no good and above all, she wanted to see him happy.

Before the week wait for the Pikachu to arrive was up, Delia sat him down at breakfast.

“So. I have talked with my friends and there is someone who could chaperone you.”

Ash looked up at her, slurping his orange juice with incredible amount of noise. Delia glared at him.

“I thought Connor is going to be my official chaperone.” He took another slurp, quieter this time.

“You need a registered chaperone when you are receiving your Trainer Card. Since you live here, you have to register here as well. Not to mention that Professor Oak already has it.”

The words came and he heard them, but it wasn’t until he was drinking the last of his juice that they really sunk in.

“Wait. So I’ll have to travel with someone else for the three months?” The idea that he would be walking around with someone he probably didn’t know was not appealing.

“Yes. But don’t worry. You know her.” Delia watched as her son digested her words.

“Her?!”

Because obviously he couldn’t travel with a _girl._

“Yes, Ash, _her._ Now you are capable of being a gentlemen, so I expect that you will. And no funny business.” She pointed at him with a promise of unhappiness if he were to disobey.

“Ugh...” Her son stared at her, still shocked by this news.

“I have already talked it out with her. Also, I invited her for lunch, so you two can discuss your plans.” With that, she left her son to the revelations and went to clean up the dishes.

* * *

Maddox was suspicious the moment her mother made her favourite breakfast food. Her suspicions were proved correct when the woman sat down and turned her yellow eyes to her.

“Yes mom?”

“Maddie.” Her mother frowned a little, surprised that her daughter was initiating this conversation.

“I talked with Delia yesterday. Ash will be receiving a pokemon after all, but he will need someone to register as his chaperone. I volunteered you.”

Mads put her fork back down with more of a clank then this warranted, but her appetite was suddenly gone. She felt tiny scratches on her scalp as JJ wiggled in her uncombed hair.

“I regret waiting for the backpacks to be on sale.”

Her mounting ire was barely suppressed behind tightly clenched cutlery. Her mother glared at her, pointedly ignoring the fluffy yellow spider that was puffing up it’s fur.

“Maddox. You know what happened with the pokemon the Ketchum boy was supposed to receive. And I told you before, I don’t want you travelling alone. You know how you get - someone insults you and you will get arrested for breaking their nose.”

She rolled her eyes, and tried hard not to grind her teeth. Instead, she bit into her tongue, leaning her head back to balance JJ better now that he was hanging at the front. By the occasional glance that her mother threw him, she was guessing he was glaring too. 

“I would not be alone. JJ’s gonna be with me.” She pointed up at him and he trilled.

“Tell me how is he going to protect you from a pack of hungry Spearows.” JJ shivered a little at the mention of the birds, but tried to keep appearances.

“He can zap’em!” He mimed biting the air, proudly fluffing up at the faith of his trainer.

“He can’t produce electricity on his own.” The Joltik visibly and audibly deflated. Mads took a piece of apple and wiggled it in from of him as a consolation prize. The little spider took it and retreated a little.

“You hair is gonna be sticky… Ah, whatever.” Rebecca shook her head at the antics of her child.

“By the time your backpack will be here, you both will be ready to go. It’d be just for three months. Who knows, by that point, he might be sick of travelling and will return home. That happens.”

She frowned but didn’t answer. Knowing her mother, it was a done deal by now. Going back on it would be pretty terrible of her.

And, if she was honest to herself, she didn’t want to travel on her own. JJ was great company, but another human being would be even better. And. When her plans with  _ Natasha Harper _ fell through, she had more than a month to deal with it. Or at least be angry about it.

Ash didn’t have that luxury. His little trio were vocal about their detailed plans at school and she felt a little sorry for him.

His travel partners didn’t decide leave him behind, he was left out and it was completely out of his control.

As Maddox slowly chewed on her cooling food, deep in thought, her mother watched her. She let her digest the news, knowing that she made a good decision. Then, she cleared her throat.

“Oh and Maddie, Delia invited us for lunch. So make sure you look presentable.” Then she got up to clean up.

The lunch was slightly awkward. Mr. Fletchinger was still at work and couldn’t join in on the machinations of his wife, nor to glare a the boy that would keep his teenage daughter company for the next few months.

Not that it was necessary, Maddox glared enough for the both of them.

Food was eaten, tea was served and now they were sitting in comfortable, plush chairs, uncomfortable silence in the air.

Delia clapped her hands together, disturbing the thin layer of peace.

“Well then, let’s get to the business, so you two can plan. So.” She got up, walking over to a standing shelf. She took the few papers that were lying on top and went back to her seat.

“So, when the boys agreed to go together, I did some research on chaperoning.” She shuffled through them, looking for a particular one.

“Legally, you, as a chaperone, would be responsible for your charge. If he would get injured or worse, it would be on you. But, you two are old enough to understand what not to do and when accidents happen, I am not going to crusade for your head. You don’t have to worry about that.”

Mads nodded along, not really worried about that too much. Ash might be a teenage boy, but he was not a complete idiot. She hoped.

“Obviously you would get paid in return.” Both teens perked up at that.

“Oh, cool. I just thought I was being pushed into it, end of story.” Both mothers chuckled and Delia continued.

“I have looked up normal pricing, and it goes for three thousand Rin a month. It’s because of the legal responsibility, and it’s a fair source of income. You won’t have to worry about earning money for some time.”

Nobody had anything against what Mrs. Ketchum offered and they quickly worked out the rest. Because it was on such a short notice, she would receive payment for the whole month of June and the next three per usual, each at the beginning of the month.

When that was worked out, the mothers left their children alone to make plans and went outside to look at Delia’s garden.

“So.” The mood was awkward once more. Mads sighed and scratched JJ, who was sitting on her shoulder, nibbling on an apple slice.

“Yes. Let’s plan. I’ll bring a map.” Ash got to his feet and did just as he told he would, bringing with him a plasticated fabric map, great for travelling.

He spread it on the coffee table, moving aside cups and a sugar bowl. Then, they both leaned over it.

“What were you planning? Before I joined in, I mean.”

Mads shrugged, not taking here eyes off the map.

“I was going to head north towards Arylide, but after that, no clue. And you?”

“We had a route planned. Cerulean, then south to Etonstone, across Krydam highlands towards Lavender. Then along the coast all the way to Wisteria, Silver Town, Russet Bluff and towards the Safari zone from there. But now it’s up to you, so… Where do you want to go?”

She nodded, following the path he described with her eyes.

“Hmm… My first thought was to leave Kanto, since I will most likely return sooner than later and start high school, but I am not too picky. How long do you have before you turn fifteen?”

“A little over three months.”

“Well then. I am guessing you’ll want to meet up with Harvey and Connor after that, so we can make this easy and head that way. Say Wisteria?”

And so they agreed. They would head out the day after he received his pokemon, early in the morning, and go along the coast towards Arylide. What would happen along their journey they didn’t know, nor did they know if they would get along.

The situation wasn’t ideal, for either of them, but they would give it a shot. Later that week, when Ashes Pikachu finally arrived and he obtained his Trainer Card, Maddox Fletchinger officially became a chaperone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the party is together! (but not complete!) Next chapter will be the beggining of their fabled journey through an expanded Kanto.  
> Just FYI, Arylide used to be South Viridian and Etonstone used to be eastern part of Saffron. What could have possibly had happened?? You'll see, eventually. ;)


	4. The problem with getting along

The first hour of their trek dashed all the optimism that Maddox Fletchinger had about the peacefulness of this journey. It wasn’t on her part, no. Her new backpack was full of useful things, from spare clothes to self-heating rations and filter straws and anything else her overprotective family could think of to be used while camping.

No, the problem was with her travelling companion, Ash Ketchum.

She should have guessed something was wrong when he showed up wearing big rubber gloves and holding his Pikachu awkwardly in front of him.

But it was only after they climbed a hill that overlooked the Pallet Town for her to realize it.

Ash’ Pikachu did not listen to him.

At all.

They stopped for a moment, on the very top of the hill and turned around, to look back at Pallet.

It lay as if on the palm of a hand, from the laboratory that was to the right from them to the far end, the very tip of the peninsula. It was a beautiful sight, yet melancholic - they were leaving everything they knew there. In the little houses with gardens, in the town square, in the buildings standing around it like a prettily painted wall.

There, somewhere, was Delia’s restaurant, one of ten in town and the best. The clock tower was visible, standing vigil over the town, shield generator at ready. Maddox remembered only one use of it in her lifetime, when a swarm of angry Combee and Vespiqueen flew over the cove from Lilytruade.

The light show was to her six year old self spectacular.

Both of them sighed, looking over what they were leaving.

Ash felt tired already. He has been up all night, trying to make friends with his pokemon to no avail. The Pikachu he received didn’t feel like communicating with him, always turning away and shocking him when he was too persistent.

He didn’t know how to handle him or what to do to make him be friendly. Or at least cordial.

That morning, he had to put on rubber gloves and carry the little yellow mouse because he refused to go with him.

Now, his hands were aching.

He sighed again, putting the mouse under his arm to shake out the soreness out of the other. But as soon as he let go with one hand, he felt his whole body go stiff with an electrical current that made his legs buckle. He went to the ground and the Pikachu out of his grasp.

“Hey! What are you-!” The pikachu started running towards Pallet Town. He had Maddox in the way and as he was falling out of Ash’ grasp, he sent another electrical jolt towards her.

JJ, who was sitting on top of her head, used what Ash considered the most useful ability in this situation and absorbed the electricity into his fur.

“The fuck!” Mads didn’t like the attempt at all and almost out of instinct kicked forward, right into the head of the running mouse.

It wobbled, heavily dazed, and Ash, who has recovered enough to be able to move, reached forward and grabbed it again.

The mouse wasn’t happy. But Ash wasn’t either.

“Mads! Why did you kick him?! You could have hurt him!” He was looking at the yellow mouse in worry but kept a firm grip, as it was squirming and fuming.

“It attacked us! It shocked you and it tried to shock me. I ain’t concerned about it’s wellbeing right now!” She spat out, taking a deep breath as if to calm herself down. It didn’t look like it worked.

He didn’t respond, just watched as the mouse slowly stopped squirming, clearly unable to slip out. He was still fuming though.

“Ketchum. We need to talk. Without the threat of being electrocuted, preferably.” Maddox reached into her pocket and took out a pokeball, clicking the button once to activate it. Then she crouched in front of the duo.

“Alrigh’, you little miscreant. You will go into this pokeball, and won’t come out till we call. And if you do try, I swear on Arceus’ titans and all of his saints that I will tear your little rodent head from your little rodent body. Got it?!” Ash looked scandalised and about to protest, but one glare shut him up.

The Pikachu looked like it was trying to be defiant, but with the very recent memory of her kick in mind, he hesitantly nodded.

When he was gone, in a flash of white light, she sat down in front of the raven-haired boy. She didn’t let go of the pokeball, not quite trusting the mouse to keep its word.

“So.” When Ash stayed silent, she sighed and scratched her head. JJ gave her hand a little bump and trilled soothingly.

“I thought you two were, you know, buddies.”

“Eh, not really.” Ash eyed the pokeball clutched securely in her hand.

“Why didn’t ya tell me? That thing is dangerous!” She waved the pokeball in front of his face, as if that could drive the point home better.

“It’s not a thing! It’s a pokemon and a he. How would you feel if I called JJ a thing?!”

She blinked, surprised and confused by his argument. He was defending it - him. Whatever.

“It attacked you. Why are you defending him?”

“Just because we don’t get along doesn’t mean I want him hurt or insulted.” She felt like a nanny being tested on her patience. She sighed again and leaned forward.

“Ash. You are still shaking.” She wanted to try and drive it home that the pokemon he was ferrying around and defending was dangerous to him, but it didn’t seem like he was going to relent.

“Hey, are you okay?” And what kind of a chaperone would she be if she let him just walk away without asking about his health?

He nodded, taking a deep breath. The quivering subsided.

“Mads, please let him out.” The plea sounded tired. Coming from someone so energetic, it was disconcertingly alien.

“No. Not until we talk.”

“We already are talking.” Now she glared at him, annoyed.

“Okay. So, tell me. What were you told when you got him? And where did you get him from?” The boy, because really they were still young enough to be counted as children, scratched the back of his neck.

“I got him from Professor Elm, in Newbark Town. I was told that he is unruly and it will take time for him to respect me.”

“Were you also told that he would be aggressive towards you?” Ash looked ready to defend the mouse again, but Mads held up her hand to shut him up.

“No. This is not something that will get better. I get it. He is your ticket to a journey around Kanto and maybe further. But if you cannot rely on him to defend you, if you have to watch  _ your back _ with him around, then you are better off without him.”

Ash was silent for a moment, looking at the ground between them. Then he looked up.

“No. I don’t want to give up. It’s been a day. I could have done something wrong or maybe he’s just terrified to be away from everything he knows with a stranger. I know I would be.” He took a deep breath, determination shining through the tiredness in his eyes.

Maddox looked at him stunned. She had a strange feeling in her lungs, like something just jumped out of a tempo and jostled her breathing rhythm to a sudden stop. She didn’t like that feeling.

She tried to think about what he just said. Maybe he was really just scared. It was true that when JJ was introduced to her, he bit into her to keep hold and then into Ambipoms tail-hand because he was scared.

It was just because he didn’t have as much power as Pikachu that he didn’t cause any harm.

She let out a breath and nodded.

“Okay.” Then she looked at him, square into his eyes, and nodded again.

“You want to give him a chance? Okay. But he is still dangerous. I ain’t telling you to get rid of him. Just. We should address that too.”

He looked at her slightly surprised. He didn’t think he could change her mind. It just showed that even though they were in the same class for five years, they didn’t know each other at all.

“So… will you let him out now?” Ash looked at the pokeball in her hand. She followed his gaze.

“Not yet. We should think about this.” She pursed her lips and looked towards the sky. Then, towards the town that was in view, still as colourful and tranquil as few minutes ago.

“Let’s make a deal with him.”

When the electric mouse was let out of it’s temporary prison, they already had it worked out. Maddox, who now was a point of fear for the Pikachu, glared at him and made sure he would not run away or attack again.

And Ash talked.

“Look, Pikachu, I know I am not great. You are in a strange place with people you don’t know and I guess you are afraid. I understand that. Mads, the one behind you,” He nodded his head towards the pinkish-gray girl who was still and tense as an Arbok. “She suggested that I should get rid of you, since you attacked me.”

He looked at the pokemon, searching for an emotional reaction. So far only heightened apprehension was all he could see.

“But I don’t wanna give up on you, because I am sure we can be friends. Professor Elm told me that your respect has to be earned.” The mouse perked up it’s ears at the familiar name.

“And as I said, I know I am not the best. But I am willing to give you a second chance. Will you give me one too? To prove myself to you?”

Hoping that the pokemon would accept the offer, he waited. And waited. The longer the silence was, the more afraid Ash was that he was not going to agree.

Sensing the tension rising, JJ trilled from his position on top of Mads head, but it didn’t do much to alleviate it. He must have said something to the Pikachu, because he piped up, turning slightly to the duo.

Then, he scratched the base of his ear and nodded.

“Pika, pi.” JJ trilled happily and both teenagers sighed in relief.

“Okay.” Ash gave the pokemon a happy smile. The Pikachu was still cautious, so he just nodded again and looked at the two humans, waiting.

Because Ash was tired, they decided to take that day easy. They walked with a leisure pace for five more hours, taking breaks in lovely vistas. Then, they made camp in a spot that showed previous campfires, made their own and went to sleep.

* * *

It was the third day of their journey north, along the coast of the Vermillion cove, and their teamwork was improving.

Mads was currently somewhere in the small forest just south of Arylide and so it fell to Ash to start the fire. They had kindling ready and enough fuel to get it going, but cooking required a bigger flame.

Unfortunately, it rained almost the whole day, only now just stopping. It was an annoying drizzle more than a downpour, but everything was damp. And it did not help the fire-making at all.

Ash was kneeling, head close to the stubborn twigs and birch bark on the ground, blowing on them with no avail. How long was he at it for? He felt lightheaded, damp and more miserable by the minute.

How come Maddox was so good at this? Was there some trick to this that he was not privy to, or was it just pure witchcraft on her part?

He sat up, sniffling a little and looking around.

No, she was still nowhere to be seen.

Unfortunately, he knew very well how she was so good at this - JJ helped her. The little creature was not able to produce more than a spark, but even that was enough to ignite the flame.

Ash looked at his pokemon.

Pikachu was now friendlier than before, but whenever Ash saw Mads and JJ interact, he felt a pang of jealousy. His pokemon went along, interacting mainly with the little spider. He didn’t want Ash to carry him and was still very hesitant when it came to communicating with him. Or Maddox, for that matter.

Now, he was sitting on the small tarp Ash had for under his sleeping bag, munching on a piece of dried apple JJ has shared with him.

“Hey Pikachu?” the mouse looked up from it’s treat.

“I can’t get this going, it’s too damp. Wanna help me?” The pokemon looked him but didn’t answer. Nor did it move.

“You know, you shock it into flame or something. With how much you can zap, that shouldn’t be a problem?” Since that time on the hill, Ash hasn’t asked anything of him. 

The Pikachu shoved the rest of his treat into his mouth and swallowed. Then he got to his little feet and scratched his ear. Ash took it as an agreement.

“Okay. Here.” He held the wider bit of bark with the leaves in front of the mouse. “Come on then, Thundershock!” The pikachu glared at him, letting the attack loose before Ash had the opportunity to let go of the kindling.

Maddox was returning with a bunch of semi-dry wood clutched in her hands, another one bound in JJ’s web that was dangling from her back. She saw a flash of yellow from the trees and sped up.

When she ran into the clearing with their tent set up, the light show was over. Ash lay crumpled on the ground, tendrils of smoke rising from his hair. Next to him was smouldering kindling and then his Pikachu, who looked very satisfied with himself.

“Ash!” she ran up to him, dropping the wood. He groaned in pain when she turned him on his back and Mads sighed in relief. She looked him over once more and then turned to Pikachu.

“What the hell did you do?!” The pokemon startled, looking at her with confusion.

“You shocked him!” Pikachu nodded, still as confused as before. Maddox growled.

“I don’t know if you understand that, but electricity isn’t just a funny gag to be used in moments of boredom. You could have killed him!” JJ jumped down from her head, slowly circling the now apprehensive yellow mouse. They both sensed the hostility from her.

Mads grabbed a stick from her abandoned pile of firewood and stepped closer. Pikachu made a big step back, only to bump into JJ, who was now flanking him.

The Medicham girl brought the stick mere centimeters from his face, snarling, glaring like a Beedrill ready to strike.

“Listen, you prissy little piss yellow mouse. I get that you don’t trust him, or me. But this shit you are pulling is way out of line. I was okay with him giving you a second chance, but you blew it.” She threw a glance toward Ash, who was still prone, breathing heavily.

“I am his chaperone. Anything happens to him, it’s on me. You shock him with too much power, you can seriously injure him or  **kill** him.” She lifted up the stick and scanned it with fake interest.

“As far as I am concerned, you are a liability. So congratulations,  _ Pikachu _ .” She turned back to the mouse, who was cowering from the furious girl, “You have outlived your convenience.”

JJ webbed the rodent in place as Maddox wound back to hit him. Pikachu braced for the hit, but it never came.

“Stop!” Ash grabbed her hand with shaky fingers and little strength. It was his shout that stopped her.

She turned to him, eyes questioning his intent.

“Mads… He didn’t know it would hurt me.” She was ready to argue, but Ash shook his head to silence her.

“He grew up in a family of his kind, electricity doesn’t do the same thing to them. And JJ just absorbed it with no problem.” She didn’t answer, but let him take the stick and drop it to the ground.

The piece of wood made a quiet thump. Ash didn’t let go.

He turned to his pokemon, still trapped in sticky webbing, and shakily reached out with his other hand.

“Pikachu. Did you  _ want _ to hurt me?”

The yellow rodent stared at him wide-eyed, probably just as surprised as Maddox was that he stopped her.

“Pi...” He shook his head, ogling alternately the boy’s hand and his face. Ash gave Pikachu a soft pat on his head, turning back to his travelling companion.

“Mads.” It was a plea, one that she was not on board with.

“No. No! I am not okay with this!” The raven haired boy visibly slumped, tired from the emotional turmoil.

“Come on… How many times have I done something stupid? I was always forgiven.”

“I don’t care if you have forgiven him! It is  _ my _ responsibility to keep you safe.  _ He _ will just make it harder.” Ash gave a breathy chuckle, shaking his head.

“What are you protecting me from here? Rattatas? Yungoos?” He looked around in the waning daylight.

“There are more dangerous things out here then just those.” She pursed her lips and sat down heavily.

“You know, there is a reason why there are almost no villages. There is a reason for that shield generator and pokemon Gyms. We live in a world where we are  _ not _ the top predators, not by a long shot.”

Ash rolled his eyes and laid back, clearly exhausted.

“Kanto is pretty safe, ya’ know.” Maddox hummed, not pushing the issue further.

“Tired?” He nodded and yawned, disturbed by a strong but gentle nudge.

“Get in the tent then. Go on. You have something to sleep off.”

When he crawled in and into his sleeping bag, only then did she turn back to the perpetrator. She pursed her lips, studying the little creature that was still cowering before her. Then she picked the stick back up, pointing it at the terrified pokemon.

“You do anything like this ever again, you are Carvanha chow. Got it?” Pikachu nodded fervently. “Let him out.”

Then she turned away and towards what was supposed to be a campfire. She finally took off the makeshift bag of wood from her back and got to work, vowing silently to keep watch over Ash and his murder mouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Ash and Pikachu, what could you expect?  
> Also, Maddox, you are becoming scary. tone it down, lass. Still, people die in this world, often from pokemon. Just take your everyday manticore attack in a dnd campaign, count the civilian casulties before your adventuring party arrived, and you'll get a similar number of death as here.  
> So, the world is dangerous.


	5. 13_06_334

_ Alrigh’… Ehm, hi. Oh, is this recording?  _

Scuffling noises were heard, clanking of nails on a hard plastic surface.

_ Oh good, it is. Well, hi. So my brother Elliot travels a lot and wanted me to keep in touch - Shit, I should probably introduce myself first. Okay. _

Clearing of throat.

_ Hi, my name is Maddox and I am recording a… travel log? I could call it adventure log, but this is not a video game. Anyway. Elliot, being suddenly popular and all, is a bit too busy to gab on with his sister for three hours every other day. So he asked me to do these. _

Pause. A sigh. Her voice was less angry, more resigned.

_ I guess he just wants to keep up with my journey, since he can’t be here himself. Anyway, I should probably get to the travelling part. I was planning to go with my friend, Natasha, but she went with her BF instead, so ‘ere I am. Um, I am not alone, don’t worry. A guy from my class had trouble with his reserved pokemon, so I was… volunteered to chaperone him. Since he’s not fifteen yet. _

Scratching noises, then a clacking trill.

_ JJ is fine, hey, bud, wanna say something to Elliot? _

Another trill, much closer and happier.

_ He says hello. Anyway, it ain’t as chill as I thought this was gonna be. His pokemon- _

Another voice called out, this one boyish but masculine, faint due to distance.

_ Mads, hey. Whatcha doing? _

There was a hitch of breath then some more scuffling and shuffling as the recording device was lowered out of sight.

_ I’m, um… It’s nothing. What did you need? _

Her voice sounded tense, tight, but also slightly sheepish.

There was another pause filled with shuffling of fabric and dirt.

_ Um… Were you-  _ He took a deep breath,  _ Were you going to kill him? _

She sighed and a soothing trill sounded after.

_ No. Okay, maybe. I dunno. One hit with a stick wouldn’t kill him, most elementaly active pokemon are more durable, but... _

She was speaking fast, rambling. Then she took a deep breath and slowed down.

_ My plan, I guess, was to knock him out, shove him into a pokeball and keep him there until Arylide. _

He hummed in acknowledgement, but gave no other reaction. She spoke up, voice lined with guilt.

_ I guess I was just too angry to give a shit. _

They both stayed silent, cicadas prominently buzzing around them with an occasional hoot from the rustling trees.

_ Will you try again? _

This time, her answer was sure.

_ If he tries to kill you again, yes. _

The boy gave a breath of surprise and she answered heatedly.

_ What did you expect? Ash, I am you  _ **_chaperone_ ** . _ Anything happens to you, it’s on me. _

_ Mom said she would not hound you if something did happen! _

His voice rose in defence.

_ That meant sprained ankles or broken teeth, not when you return to her in a casket! _

He had nothing to say to that. There was some more rustling, shuffling of clothes as he got up and walked away, with just a tiny “Pi” pipping up. She stayed silent for a long time, scratching at fur in slow, methodical movement.

_ Well, that wasn’t great. _

Only another soothing trill was her answer.

_ Shit, this thing’s still running. Piss. _

And with few scuffling noises, the tape ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short one in a different format. I wanted to include a resolution to the conflict beforehand, and this was a best way to do it. Also, this whole audio-blogging (alogging?) kinda made sense for the setting. On trail days at a time a camera would run out of batter soon, but audio recording is much more durable. Plus somehat minimalistic to write.


	6. Consequences

The next morning was bright and blue, with just a few puffy clouds floating high above them. If you’d squint, you could see a flock of Swablu and Altaria soaring through the air, though birds were not the main focus of Maddox Fletchinger that morning.

No. She was far more interested in what her travelling companions were doing. One, the human, because he has been injured the previous evening and the second, a pokemon, because he was the source of said injury.

As they put away their equipment and made sure that they left nothing behind, they all kept quiet.

The tension that has been resolved the previous night has climbed up again and no one was up to dealing with it any more than they had. Ash looked ruffled but alive, Pikachu was flinching in fear every time he saw Mads look at him. Only JJ, the little yellow spider, was happily trilling along with Kricketots in the area.

It was easy to find the path as it was marked every thirty meters or so, three lines stacked on top of each other, outer two white. It took them two hours of walking to get out of the forest and onto the planes. Once they did, their destination was in view.

To their right, across the cove on one of the many smaller peninsulas lay the ruins of Vermillion, green with life again. Only the bones of tall building and stone piers hinted to previous civilization.

North of them, in a valley near where the river Tolhja flowed into the Vermillion cove, there laid the Town of Arylide, inviting. It had promise of warm, good food, comfortable beds and hot showers.

They could see two smaller patches of trees downhill amongst the tall grass and a rising flock of Pidgeottos and Pidgeys that were quickly moving to the west.

Maddox took a deep breath, enjoying the delicious air that came from the sea below. Unfortunately, she was jostled out of her reverie by a loud thump.

She turned around to see Ash, the raven-haired boy whom she was charged to travel with for the foreseeable future, lying on the ground, twitching. She kneeled next to him and called out confused. 

He gave her no answer.

Panic rising, she reached forward only for her hand to be knocked away by a sudden jerk of his arm. Seeing his face now, seeing his eyes rolled back so that mostly the whites were visible, she realised what was going on.

An epileptic seizure.

Taking a deep breath, she thought back to her first-aid training, what she was told of epilepsy. She was drawing blanks. One thing popped up - not to hold him down with force.

Making sure that there was nothing he could hit himself on, she sat back, hugging her knees and anxiously waited for it to end.

It did, what felt like an eternity later but was probably only a few seconds. Ash was heaving with effort, sweat pearling on his forehead. He looked like he tasted something foul and was blinking rapidly.

“...Ash?” Mads piped up, voice thin.

He grunted in response and turned towards her.

“Hey...Um, ya’ just, um, you just had an epileptic seizure.” The raven-hair boy watched her, not reacting to her words. Then, he blinked sluggishly and frowned.

“I… Uh, what?”

“You had an epileptic seizure.” Ash blinked again and tried to sit up. Mads helped him, scanning him for any signs that it was not over.

“An epileptic...”

“Yes.” He scratched his forehead, trying to process this new information.

“Have you ever gone through this, or is it, ya’ know, first time?”

“No. uh, I’ve never had one.” Mads nodded. Now that he was lucid, she searched her memory for more information about epilepsy. With clearer thoughts, she recalled the cause of it.

“It’s an imbalance in your brain… Electrical imbalance.” Maddox turned towards where Pikachu stood. His eyes snapped to her and he did a half-step back, ready to bolt.

She frowned, too rattled for anger.

“You did this. This is the consequence of your actions.” She gave him a tired glare and turned back to Ash. He had a pleading look on his face again, but she ignored it.

“So, we have to get ya’ to a hospital.” Maddox gulped, took a steadying breath and started again. “I don’t know what has triggered it, since we were just walking, maybe exertion from the hike?” She heard a soothing trill from the top of her head and a soft scratching on her scalp. It helped.

“We’ll be in Arylide in two, three hours if we take a leisure pace and stop every once in a while. You -” she pointed a finger at Ash, “tell me if you feel anything weird coming up and we’ll stop, ‘kay?”

He agreed and they got back on track. They slowly made their way down the hill, towards a corp of trees to get some shade. It was getting to noon and the heat was uncomfortable. The tall grasses did nothing to help and wind was almost still.

It took maybe forty minutes for Ash to get better. The sudden wave of vertigo and taste of copper left soon after they headed out and tiredness was gone around the time they neared a cluster of trees.

He wasn’t stupid. It could happen again. He was not going to go frollicking anytime soon, not with the anxious, coddling glances Maddox was sending him. But another thing that worried him were the glares she sent to Pikachu. The pokemon was sullen, perpetual guilt making him mellow.

It was a strange sight for such a spirited creature.

They stopped in the shade, sat down and had a drink. From the silence that was accompanied by bugs, birds and the wind, Mads turned to him.

“Hey, um. I know that you probably don’t want to hear it, but when we reach Arylide, we should probably start looking for another pokemon for you.” She gave a cursory glance towards the yellow mouse that has been shadowing his steps.

“Not only because, ya’ know.” She nodded her head vaguely in Pikachu’s direction, “But also if you are planning on entering tournaments, it would give you an advantage.”

Ash nodded and took another drink from his water bottle.

“I’ll think about it.” He finished his drink and got up. “Gotta pee.”

He walked far enough out of sight, to the treeline. The little electric shadow followed him, keeping a reasonable distance. 

Even through all that has happened these past few days, he was happy.

His promised starter passed away and he missed the opportunity to go with his friends, but he got a different pokemon and found a travel partner too. The frustration of not being able to befriend the little creature was gone - Pikachu was following him around, occasionally talking at him. And he answered back.

He knew it was out of guilt, but this was his chance to bond with the pokemon. He didn’t care about the shocks as Maddox did, he knew injuries were bound to happen. It didn’t even hurt as much.

Thinking about their progress, he couldn’t help but wonder if they were going to get to Arylide before it’s Gym tournament started. Was there even a PA Gym, anyway? He had no clue, but it wasn’t a rule that only a Gym could host tournaments.

If one wasn’t around, then it went to someone else - he still vividly remembered the contests Pallet Pokemon Center organised every two months.

Maddox was right in one thing - he would need more than just one pokemon. If he wanted to become the best pokemon trainer ever, better than his father, than he would need to find a lot more pokemon.

Why not start now?

When he was finished, he looked around.

There was a lot of pokemon around, looking for food, resting or building their nests. He could see a Ninjask flap from branch to branch, catching sunlight and small grubs. And right in front of him, slightly to the left, was a Starly, pecking at the ground.

He read a lot about catching wild pokemon and taming them, in fact, that was one of the many themes for his school reports. A cursory glance around showed there were no other of its kind around and so he snuck forward, as silent as he could.

The bird did not see him coming.

Right when he was two meters away, he pounced, landing square onto the bird, grabbing it firmly. He probably skinned his knee, but that was unimportant.

The small bird peeped in shock, then started thrashing wildly, but Ash held strong. He was reaching for a pokeball that he received with Pikachu when the little bird started wailing at the top of its little lungs.

It was a piercing sound. Ash flinched, being so near to its source, but managed to hold on fast. Behind him, a “Pika!” tried to get his attention, but he needed his focus elsewhere.

His personal battle with the bird continued and Pikachu was persistently tugging at his pant leg, increasingly determined to get his attention.

Ash should have listened.

There was a multitude of answering cries and then a thundering cacophony of wings beating through the air, sounding very close.

He let go of the bird and turned to the tall, vibrant green grass, only to see many,  _ many _ Starlys and Staravias rising up into the air. The little bird he tried to catch sounded another wail that sounded too much like a battlecry and flew up.

It swooped down on him, scratching him with its talons on his forearm with more joining in on the battlecry and descending on him.

Then, a loud roar of “Pika-pika-pi-i-i-i!” rang out behind him and his world turned to flashes of yellow lights and pained shrieking.

* * *

When Maddox heard Pikachus battlecry, a cold shiver ran down her spine. She cursed herself for leaving the boy with that murder mouse alone and ran towards the sounds. JJ, who just managed to jump on her from her abandoned backpack trilled in bewilderment, quickly scrabbling up her shoulders to the top of her head.

When she arrived, birds were flying and falling around and in the middle of it all stood Ash, arms over his head with rivulets of blood criss-crossing his skin and Pikachu, who was lighting up with electricity, discharging into the birds around him.

She quickly made her way over the singed bodies on the ground, close enough so that she could shout and be heard over the ruckus.

“Ash! What’s going on!?” He didn’t turn to her, but the birds did. Several Staravias and Starlys took a sharp dive in her direction, beaks and claws ready to tear. A Staravia reached her first.

Mads ducked, arms going instinctively over her head - which was the only reason JJ was still in place and not in the clutches of an angry bird. Two Starlys came next, one aiming for her face. She managed to smack it away, then she grabbed her pokemon and shoved him into her shirt.

“Stay there, JJ!” Second Starly attack dodged, she tried to close the gap between her and Ash.

With a powerful roar, a giant bird rose from the grass, making the little ones scatter out if its way. This one had a bright red plumage on top of its crown and a beak the size of Ash’ head.

It flared its wings, roaring out once more, before it turned to the raven-haired boy.

He heard Maddox scream his name but it was lost in the thumps of the beasts giant wings as it took flight, leading several of its flock in a coordinated assault. They flew up, then it looked like they stopped mid-air, before they started to descend rapidly. Ash felt his feet start to freeze up. He gritted his teeth, knowing full well that if he’d stay still, he’ll die.

With a cry of his own, he moved his leaden feet, jumping to the side and out of the way of the giant bird. He felt a dull, hard point hit him in the ribs and something sharp rake his shoulder, but he ignored it.

He received a faceful of feathers as a Starly tried to get away from his falling body. He quickly turned, trying to see where he was getting attacked from next, only to witness something he was not expecting.

Pikachu, glaring heavily at the Staraptor, stood his ground, electricity sparking in occasional bursts from his red cheek pouches. He shouted out a challenge as the birds went for another pass, catching the attention of the leader.

The bird squawked in derision and flew up again, positioning himself, aiming at Ash, but the little mouse did not stand for being brushed aside. He stomped his little feet and sent a jolt of electricity its way.

It hit the leader square in the chest, stopping it from advancing. The rest of his lackeys continued. There was another roar from the Staraptor, angry, now that he was forced to face his challenger. He headed for the the yellow mouse, colossal talons at ready.

Pikachu dodged the first attack easily, sent another shock through the feathered beast and ran behind him.

The birds that were still heading for Ash swerved and went for the mouse as well, flapping their wings in tandem to gain speed.

Ash called out a warning to his pokemon and it ducked, getting hit few times by their wing tips.

Then, he felt a hand grab his arm firmly and tug him up.

“Come on, we gotta hide!” Maddox started to tug him away as Pikachu continued his duel with the Staraptor and Staravias. Many others of the flock still fluttered about in a hail of feathers.

“And what about Pikachu? I am not leaving him behind!”

Ash heard the Medicham girl growl in annoyance but paid no mind to it; he tugged her forward to the battling pokemon.

It was clear from the diminishing flashes of light that Pikachu was losing. There were just too many targets to focus on, too many wings and beaks and talons to dodge and he was quickly getting overpowered.

Ash, now free of Mads grasp, put his arms around his face and ran forward, trying to act like a battering ram and disrupt the continual assault. He pushed into the feathery wall, knocking two Staravias aside; it was enough to get Pikachu in his line of sight, currently dodging the grasp of Staraptor.

He was bloodied and dazed, clearly on his last legs, but small enough so that the leader of the flock couldn’t get a proper grip on him. That was probably the only reason he was not being swallowed as a snack.

Ash looked for an opportunity to grab the pokemon and run, as was advised, but there were just too many birds in his way, all eager for blood.

A white web shot out from behind him, sticking onto the black and gray wings of the colossus.

“Ooh, good idea buddy.” He heard Maddox say and probably immediately regret, since the Staraptor turned to her and JJ, screeching loudly in fury. A second webbing came, one straight for its open beak and the bird scrambled to get it off, backing up in lack of balance.

This was the opening he needed. Ash surged forward, shouting out to Pikachu. Once the exhausted mouse was safely in his grasp, he turned to run.

Four Staravias refused to let their prey escape and charged at his back. One was webbed by the little spider, who was glaring defiantly with his four eyes, the second one was caught by Maddox by its throat. It squawked in alarm and scratched at her as she tightened her grip. She then punched it into its ribs, squeezed one more time and dropped it to the ground.

By the time she started running, Ash was already in the treeline, ducking into the undergrowth for more cover.

“Go, go, go!” The shorter girl ran past him, grabbing his sleeve and tugging him further into the forest towards the northern end.

The flock gave chase.

Up ahead of them were thicker bushes, good enough to hide in and defend until the birds get bored or give up. Mads felt her pokemon crawl out of his safe spot and to her shoulder.

They both heard another web being released, slowing the progress of their pursuers significantly.

Ash slid under the thicket, Maddox right behind him while the little spider let loose another three webs.

Ash was panting, mind racing. They didn’t have any tissue repairing medicine on them, nor any quick way to get to town; he looked down at Pikachu. The yellow rodent whimpered breathily in his arms as more and more birds flew above them.

Ash started to feel hopeless.

Then, he remembered seeing someone by the water.

By now, the flock must have reached the beach, which meant that whoever was there was in danger. Ash shot up and started to crawl out, but Maddox didn’t let him.

“What the - Ash, stop! They’ll see you!” She grabbed his jacket by the shoulder tightly, whispering.

“We have to warn them!”

With hands occupied by an injured pokemon, his only way of getting out of her grip was wriggling.

“Who?!”

“The person by the water!” she stared at him. Ash used her surprise to get out of her relaxed grip and scrambled out of their hiding spot. He looked around for birds, only seeing few that were still trapped in the webs.

Then, he started into a light jog, accompanied by the continual whispered swearing that originated from Mads. They were by the treeline when they heard a high-pitched scream.

Ash took of running, quickly leaving his chaperone behind. When he arrived at the shore, the swirling flock of birds was being bombarded by stream after stream of flat, glowing stars.

The girl that has been attacked by the flock was safe behind her pokemon and the birds were retreating, clearly underpowered against their new opponent.

He spared a glance to check if the trainer was injured, but found no obvious signs. On the grassy bank lay a bicycle and that was his goal; he needed to get Pikachu to a Pokemon Center fast.

Grabbing the bike with a shout of “I’ll return it, I promise!” he hopped on and started to pedal furiously towards Arylide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, who could it possibly be that just startled away a whole flock and lost a bike to Ash? *nonchalante whistling*  
> Anyway. I have some chapters still pre-written, but once we start approaching unwritten territory, these update will definitely slow down.  
> It's inevitable, really. :D  
> Also! Epilepsy can occur with people who have been eletrocuted. And the first aid for it is kinda that, just keep them from hurting themselves on stuff, but definitely always call an ambulance, no matter how mild the episode was. No pat on the back and take it easy. But Maddox doesn't know that, so... Yeah.


	7. But then it was good

Maddox was breathing heavily by the time she got to the bank. She tried to shout at Ash, but he was already too far away to hear her. Unfortunately, the owner of the bike wasn’t.

“Hey!” the girl had a higher pitched voice, enough so that it was grating on her nerves. She hummed in dismay and turned to the approaching trainer.

“Hey, your boyfriend stole my bike!”

Mads growled, annoyed beyond belief by the redhead. She snapped to the approaching girl, sneering.

“I don’t give a shit about your fucking bike! That guy had an epileptic episode few hours ago!” She took a quick breath, too pumped up to calm down, “If he gets another, he could be in trouble - both of them.”

She climbed a hill that had a clear sight of Arylide. Ash was halfway there, tiny in the distance and getting smaller. Nothing to be done chasing him, better to call someone from the town instead. 

Her phone was in her bag.

Maddox turned on her heel, marching back to their bags, followed by the ginger trainer.

“Where are you going, are you not gonna go after him?” Her questions were ignored for the favour of speed. When she reached her temporary destination, she buckled her own backpack on her back, swinging the second on her front to keep balance.

She got her phone out, only to let out a growl when it didn’t respond. Dead battery.

“What do you want?!” Maddox shouted, finally acknowledging the other girls presence.

“My bike back! An explanation! Were you the ones to anger the flock? You look like it.” The ginger was turning the colour of her hair, easily keeping up with the overencumbered, angry Medicham.

“Well you ain’t getting one!” Mads’ path was blocked by the red-faced trainer. “Fuck off, will ya? I have more important things to do than argue with some common bitch.” 

Her words were perhaps too harsh, but at that point she didn’t care.

The other trainer stood stunned, letting Maddox to walk by her. Then, she dashed off. Mads sighed in relief, setting a harsh pace for herself, towards the town. She couldn’t run, not with all the equipment she was carrying, but a swift march would not be out of question.

Not a minute has gone by before she was rejoined by the redhead, rosy from the run to catch up but considerably calmer.

“Did you provoke the flock?”

Mads glared at her and kept marching.

“That was really irresponsible of you. It took Staryu a lot of attacks to chase it off. And your boyfriend and his pokemon were beat. Why, what were you-”

The sharp, questioning, judgemental tone was cut of by a loud “Shut up!”

Unfortunately, she did not.

“Come on, are you really gonna be a bitch about it and not admit your mistake? You said he has epilepsy - he shouldn’t even be travelling!” How did the girl not run out of breath with the constant nattering and this pace was a mystery - Maddox was already breathing much harder.

“JJ, please web her up.” She whispered to her little spider hat, taking two quick breaths, “I don’t want to deal with her right now.” There was a rustle on top of her head, than a sad trill.

“Oh, you all out?” An affirmative trill.

“Aww, it’s okay, buddy.”

She completely zoned out the other girl during the conversation with her pokemon. She vaguely heard something about a ‘monitor’ and ‘care’ before a firm hand on the strap of her backpack stopped her in her tracks.

“Did you make them fight for you? You know, I usually have faith in the good of other people, but your selfishness is taking new heights!” Maddox blinked in the face of her fury, breathing heavily.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” she quickly read her expression, trying to understand how did the girl get in her tirade where she now was. Mads’ question seemed to stun her.

“Well-” The shorter trainer held up her bloodied hand, cutting her off.

“You know what, I don’t care. Will you just let me get to him and make sure that he hasn’t died on the way there?!” Maddox didn’t wait for an answer and started marching again.

The girl followed, for now silent.

The silence kept to the town some fifteen minutes later, to the brightly coloured roof with a giant, flat pokeball logo. Maddox let out a breath in relief, sagging a little under the weight of two backpacks. Then she straightened up again and marched inside.

The girls approached the counter, being ogled by curious people and pokemon. The staff member at the reception looked ready to jump her once he noticed the blood on her hand.

“Hi. did a guy come in here with an injured Pikachu?” The tall, lanky attendant nodded, looking her over with analytic eyes.

“Yes. they were both treated. He told us about you. Come.” Then he gave her a tight-lipped smile and led her towards the medical part of the facility. They went through a set of double doors and then left, stopping in front of another, plain door.

“Feel free to leave the bags here. I know you would like to check on them first, but after that we’ll take a look at you too.” With that he opened the door to a small, sterile room with a square bed and few chair.

In the middle of the white expanse of bedding lay Pikachu, out cold but alive. As soon as the doors opened, Ash, who was sitting slumped in one of the chair, shot up, proclaiming that his pokemon will be alright instead of a greeting.

Maddox swung both bags off her and stretched, free of the weight.

“So the murder mouse lives, eh?” Ash’ expression soured.

“Come on, don’t call him that. He defended me and-” His rant was cut short when his chaperone pointed at him and turned to the male nurse.

“He had an epileptic seizure.” Then her outstretched arm shifted to the unconscious pokemon, “Caused by that trigger happy vermin.” The man cringed at her choice of words, but didn’t comment on it. Whatever was going on was not his problem. The epilepsy, on the other hand, was.

“Epilepsy? Why did you not mention that?” Ash gave the man a sheepish smile, shrugging his shoulders. The nurse turned to the pale pinkish-gray skinned girl, questioning further.

“When was it? What was the severity?”

Mads scratched her head, still balancing her fluffy yellow spider. Before she could start answering, the man grabbed her by her shoulders and pushed her into a chair near the sink, which was, just as everything in this room, white.

Then, he dashed away, returning moments later with a towel and a medkit.

While he was cleaning the wound on her arm, she started talking.

“So, timewise it was maybe two hours ago. I’ve never seen anyone with epilepsy, so I have no point of reference.” when her hand was properly cleaned and all the wounds held close with butterfree bandages, the nurse took out a nondescript green bottle with a small, handwritten sticker on it. He stopped above her arm, looking at her.

“How’s your reaction, good?” She nodded and he pressed the lever, letting a spray of translucent greenish blue liquid onto the closed wounds. She hissed on instinct, watching as the scratches closed of completely, leaving few darker marks behind.

“Ooh yep, that’s a strong reaction. You okay with that, or do you want those gone too?” Mads shook her head, peeling off the now redundant plasters. JJ trilled at the display in wonder, climbing down to take a closer look.

“So about that epilepsy.” The nurse turned towards the raven-haired boy before he noticed the Staryu trainer standing in the doorway.

“Uhm, who are you?” Maddox chuckled and answered before the ginger trainer had a chance to talk.

“A random bystander.” the nurse looked at her, nodded and walked over.

“Miss, I am sorry, but you can’t be here. Please wait in the lobby.” He gently pushed her out of the door and towards the aforementioned room, closing the door once she was out of the medical area. 

Misty sighed, looking around the lobby. There were trainers, many teen-aged, sitting around chatting with their friends and pokemon. She was slightly rattled from the experience. To be honest, she didn’t know what to think anymore.

First, she thought the couple has been just unlucky. When she saw that the Medicham girl was more angry than worried about both of them, she thought she must not care much about them. Then, she claimed the boy had epilepsy, but instead of going after him, she went for their bags, clearly valuing her things above his well-being.

But their interaction when they finally met up threw these theories out of the window. He didn’t act like they were a couple and cared more about his pokemon.

Still, the girl behaved horribly, as expected.

But then she claimed that the Pikachu caused the epilepsy. Misty had no clue about their relationship, but she was sure of one thing - the girl was a selfish shrew.

She felt a melodic nudge in her mind; her Staryu was reminding her she was standing in front of the door. She walked outside, deciding to go looking for her bike.

It was still as sunny as before, but now she didn’t feel like dozing or jumping into the water to cool off.

Since the boy grabbed her bike with such an emergency in mind, she was guessing he ditched it also very quickly. Which meant that it should be somewhere around the entrance.

A glance around didn’t yield any results, but asking nearby people did. Unfortunately, they told her that someone led that bike away good ten minutes ago. Misty cursed silently, thanking the trio.

Her bike has been stolen.

She felt her fury rising again, so much so that she had to kick a wall with a growl to calm herself.

Those selfish brats! The bike was new and very expensive!

It was possible to put so much stuff on it, too! And it had a battery and an electric motor! It took her so much time to get the money for it, and now it was down the drain because a pair of amateurs provoked a flock of birds and got hurt in the process.

Misty took another breath, calmer than before. She kicked the wall once more for good measure and then she headed further downtown in search of a police station.

* * *

_ Hey, Maddox here again. I left the last one on a weird note, but after that talk with Ash, I really didn’t feel like recapping everything.  _

She paused and took a breath.

_ So, it’s another day, Monday the fourteenth to be exact. And, um. I should probably explain what that was all about. _

There was a squeeking of a bed as she moved about.

_ Imma keep it short. So, Ash’s reserved pokemon died. He got another one, Pikachu, but it doesn’t listen to him. He was shocked by said Pikachu, almost died and developed epilepsy.  _

_ He had an... episode. It was pretty fucked up. _

Her voice went quieter, reluctant.

_ So after it stopped, we walked slowly towards Arylide.  _

She gulped, picking up speed again.

_ On the way, we stopped under some trees. He went off for a leak and somehow angered a flock of Staravias. I guess his Pikachu felt guilty for the epilepsy or something, since he followed him around. When I got there, he was fighting the birds, so I guess brownie point for the murder mouse?  _

A trill and a rustle, meant for the girl, probably as reassurance.

_ A giant fucking Staraptor joined and tried to kill them. We managed to get away, with some good web shots from JJ. _

There was pride in her voice when she mentioned her pokemon.

_ Pikachu was injured though. After that, Ash remembered that there was someone by the beach, so he ran to warn them. The girl was fine though, fought off the flock with her pokemon, so Ash just nabbed her bike and rode to Arylide. _

She took a breath and continued. Her voice turned sharp with annoyance.

_ The girl’s a bitch, by the way. She blamed me for everything, then started ranting about boyfriends and monitors or something. Fucking hell… _

She let out a breath in a loud whoosh.

_ I think that’s it, for now. Bye. _

The recording ended.

* * *

By the time they were done examining Ash in the local hospital, it was almost evening. They have been told that this type of epilepsy could be fixed - the same way it was caused. Over the course of the week, Ash would come here, be shocked by a specially trained pokemon, until his brain was all and good again.

Up until then, they were told to hunker down and try not to do any heavy activity.

Maddox really didn’t think much of it. During his examination, she recorder a travel log, looked up Pallet High courses and what she would be eligible to study further with them. She didn’t hold any illusions - she would deliver Ash to his buds in Wisteria and then get back home to school.

Ash didn’t agree.

“Oh come on Mads, where is your sense of adventure?”

“Adventure?! You were zapped by your own pokemon and then we were attacked by a flock of angry birds! Which part is adventurous for you?” Few people in the lobby of the Pokemon Center turned their head their way, but it didn’t seem to faze either.

“All of it.” They approached the reception once more, where now was a lady with a very dark, almost black skin and contrastingly light hair. She gave them a friendly smile as they stopped right in front of her.

Before she could speak, Maddox turned to Ash.

“You are a masochist.” Then she shook her head to dissatisfaction of JJ, who trilled at her unhappily and clung to her hair a little tighter.

The woman ignored their conversation. “Hello and welcome to Pokemon Center Arylide East. How can I help you?”

Ash spoke up first.

“Hey! I was here earlier with an injured Pikachu.” the Jynx looked into the reception computer, nodding. “Yes, we have you here on record. Do you wish to see the pokemon?” Maddox jumped in, leaning on the counter.

“Actually, we’re here to reserve rooms. Do you have any free right now?” The lady nodded again, confirming they had vacancy. They chose separate rooms and then they were asked for their Trainer Cards.

Ash handed his first, yawning ostentatiously. 

“Mister Ketchum, you have a chaperone on record. Miss Fletchinger.” She looked towards Maddox who gave her a terse smile.

“Yep, that’s me.”

“Your card please.” The receptionist accepted it and started tapping in the room reservations. When it was all being processed, she turned to Ash.

“You probably know it already, but you have to have your chaperone with you for registrations, both in PCs and tournaments. However, since you are almost fifteen, you would probably be accepted even without her. Anyway, dinner starts at seven.” They both nodded in acknowledgement and got their room key cards.

“We have about an hour before we can eat so I am going to check on Pikachu. What are you gonna do?” They moved from the counter towards the double door leading to the medical section.

Maddox stretched, opened the door and headed into the room where Pikachu lay.

“I’m getting my things and then, I am going to shower. You should too.” She smirked his way, swung her backpack on and backed out again, leaving Ash with his still unconscious pokemon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this site is somewhat of a black hole. You start reading one day, and then it's seved days later and you forget about posting chapters...  
> Oops.  
> So, Here we go.  
> I might actually keep the weekly updates and put the story in bigger chunks, or this will end up with a ridiculous number of chapters.


	8. The blame game

It was a peacefully spent evening with good food, great shower and then lounging about in a common area behind the PC. Maddox spent her time there playing with JJ by tieing a piece of dried apple on a string and letting him pounce on it.

JJ got into it, wiggling his butt in the air before he jumped, trilling happily every time he got to eat one.

Her plans for the next day were going to the city to get a haircut and a packet of Cashews. Her long hair has been bothering her for the short trek from Pallet to Arylide, braiding it was problematic and she didn’t want to bother with it.

But now, she was heading into her room. The Jynx nurse at the counter told her that her friend arrived and has the same room.

It was strange to say the least. 

Did Ash change rooms to have one with her? Or was it maybe one of her classmates that were travelling too? 

She though briefly to Natasha.

No, by the profile picture she had, she was still with her boyfriend. She wouldn’t need to share rooms with her.

When she opened the door, she had to suppress the urge to angrily bash her head into a wall.

There, on the bed, sat the ginger they met few hours ago, brushing her hair lazily with a levitating Staryu next to her and a Ducklett curled up on her pillow.

“The fuck.” Th ginger looked up and gave a saccharine smile.

“Oh hey, you’re here.” Maddox entered and closed the door behind her with a bit more force than warranted. She headed straight for her things.

“Oh come on. I didn’t mess with anything of yours. I am not vindictive nor a thief.” Mads ignored her and what she was saying, looking through all her stuff.

“Fine, do as you will.” She watched the Medicham methodically check all her pockets to find everything still in place, intact. When she finished and sat down on her own bed, the ginger spoke up again.

“I am Misty.” Maddox nodded, not answering.

“Ugh fine, be a mime.” She sat back on her bed, softly stroking the blue bird. “So.” She looked up at the shorter girl. ”Ash, your friend, ditched my bike in front of the Pokecenter. It got stolen.”

Only then Mads reacted, a short burst of loud laughter escaped her that she did not even try to contain,

“It did?”

Misty glared.

“Yes. It was new and pretty expensive. But I have already explained that to your friend.” Maddox stopped smiling, instead sneering at the girl across. She rolled her eyes in disgust at the self-satisfaction the ginger had and turned away.

“Okay, different topic. I kinda now understand why you are so conceited.”

Misty watched, and froze, as the little yellow spider climbed down from the girls head and onto the bed. It did not, however, settle down for sleep. As if feeling the frown on its trainers face, it watched Misty for any signs of aggression. If the Medicham girl wasn’t such a horrible person, she would have been proud at the bond they had.

Misty did not like bugs.

The fact that the girl was okay with something so disgusting crawling all over just steeled her opinion.

“Oh, you do? Enlighten me, please.”

Misty gave her a little smile.

“Sure thing, Fletchinger.” She watched the other girl like a Swellow, and she did not disappoint. She did try to keep her expression closed, points for that, but she wasn’t really successful. Misty gave her another little smile, showing the satisfaction with the situation.

The pale, pinkish-gray girl stayed silent and broody.

But the whole point of this was not to watch the girl squirm, because Misty wasn’t a sadist. The point was to make the girl realize that status is not gonna save her arse nor her charge.

“So, I hope you know that being related to someone who got famous might get you some social status, but it won’t change your capabilities.”

Maddox didn’t react. She just watched the ginger, expression now closed, bar the occasional lip twitch into a snarl.

“And, unless you trained with him, it won’t change capabilities of your pokemon, either.” Misty nodded towards the tense Joltik, who clicked his mandibles her way ever so often.

Eugh. 

Without needing to look, she knew her own pokemon were now tense too, reacting to the silent threat.

“I have been training pokemon for some time now, few years actually. And let me tell you, even if you have half as much talent as your brother does, if you wanna get good, most of it is training.” She nodded along her own logic, “Hence Pokemon Trainer.”

The look she received was just as dull and sour as before. Then, the girl finally spoke up.

“Why are you here?” It sounded more like a sentence than a question, but Misty answered anyway.

“Without me, the flock  _ you _ have angered would have gone for Arylide. A lot of people would have ended up hurt, maybe they would even throw up the shield. With how fast Staravias can be, I doubt they would manage to do it in time.” Misty crossed her hands, giving the girl across from her a serious look.

“Not to mention Arylide doesn’t even have a PA Gym. Not since the war.” Maddox blinked a few times.

“I asked why you are here, not what you prevented.”

There was a silence following her statement and Misty felt her disappointment rising.

“Okay, I’ll be frank. I don’t think you are responsible enough nor capable enough to keep your charge safe. With what he managed to do in just three days, he’s bound to be a trouble magnet.” Annoyance written all over her face, Maddox took a breath through her nose.

“If you wanted me to punch you, you should have just asked.” The moment the threat left her mouth, both of Misty’ pokemon were tense, ready to defend their trainer. Misty herself ignored it.

“See? This is what I am talking about! You care more about your reputation than about the well-being of others.” Looking ready to groan with frustration, the Medicham leaned her head back and sighed.

“Okay look, Foggy-”

“Misty.”

“Yeah, whatever. I don’t know what you were told or assumed, but you know literally shit about me. You know little about the situation or about my character, but here you are, insulting me to my face because of something that you would have done differently.” During her speech Maddox stood up, looming above the sitting ginger. 

“I am pretty sure we both know who is the conceited one here.” She cocked her eyebrows at Misty, then turned to the closet where her clothes were folded. She grabbed her pyjamas, changed as if noone was in the room, turned the light off and climbed into her bed.

The next morning, she got up in a considerable less foul mood, but it did turn sour quickly. Misty, the self-proclaimed moral warrior and saviour of Arylide from bird hung onto her six like a bad cold.

During breakfast, she sat at a table with clear view of Maddox. She followed her, watching her for some hidden flaw. Or maybe she just thought Mads was going to start monologuing her evil plan there and then.

By the time she was walking to the medical wing to get Ash for his own appointment for epilepsy treatment, she had just about enough of her judgemental shadow.

“Will you stop following me?!”

The male nurse from yesterday was back at the counter, now startled by her exclamation. He cursed silently and started wiping droplets of what was probably coffee off the reception.

“We sleep in the same building, if you haven’t noticed. Same canteen and washingroom. Also, same Pokecenter lobby.”

Maddox glared at her, not taking that bull. They were starting to attract more attention from the sleepy inhabitants. The shorter girl growled under her breath before marching to the counter.

“Hi. That girl over there has been following me since yesterday. She even got herself the same room as me.” The lanky man looked from one girl to another with a degree of panic, realising he was being dragged into an argument.

“Pff, you are just paranoid. I literally know  _ shit _ about you.” There was a hint of a smirk in her voice. “Why, by Arceus, would I be following you?”

Mads looked straight at the nurse, pursing her lips angrily.

“Can you please make sure she doesn’t move while I go get my stuff?” Misty leaned next to her, casually peering at the Medicham.

“Are you planning on leaving your charge here?” She was happy that her predictions about the young Fletchinger were correct, but also very disappointed.

“I am planning on changing rooms.” No, she would not let the Medicham get away with this and make her seem like the culprit.

“Maybe I should be doing that, since you threatened me.” Now, there was a small crowd slowly getting closer to them, waiting with baited breath what was going to happen next.

“That’s what happens when you insult someone to their face for no particular reason.”

The ginger scoffed, putting her hands on her hips.

“You angered a flock of Staravias and I had to stop them. Of course it was justified - you endangered a lot of people.” Mads growled at her, accompanied by an angry trill. “You weren’t there, you don’t know what happened! So how about shove these accusation right where your head is - up your own arse!” Then she turned around on her heel and stomped her way into the medical section.

Once she was out of sight the male nurse turned to her.

“What was that about the flock of Staravias?” Misty sighed, relaxing her stance. She didn’t like bashing people down, but this girl needed it.

“They angered a flock and failed to deal with it. It came flying out of the trees heading north. Me and Staryu stopped them.” One lady, clearly older than most of the occupants, approached her worriedly.

“Should we call the police or something?” Misty shook her head, sighing again.

“No. I think they learned their lesson, at least the boy did - his Pikachu was really hurt.”

“And the girl? You said she threatened you.” A teenage boy, about her age, joined the conversation.

“If she does something, I’ll deal with her. I am pretty sure she is starting to learn that having a famous brother is not gonna help her.”

“Famous brother?” Misty told them about her being a Fletchinger. When she was sure they wouldn’t call the police and let her deal with all this, she excused herself and went out back to a training area to practise with her Ducklett.

* * *

After his treatment was finished for the day, Ash and Maddox returned to the Pokemon Center. He headed straight for the counter, asking about his Pikachu, but as they walked through the lobby, he could hear whispers. People were talking about them, pointing their way.

They were sent to the same room in medical section and the moment the plain door closed behind the nurse and they were left alone, Maddox spoke up.

“What did you tell Misty? Did you talk to her?”

Ash slumped and hung his head.

“Yeah. She found me after I finished calling Harvey and Connor. She told me that her bike was stolen.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Then she started asking about the flock and all and I kinda panicked.” He was getting flustered more and more as he watched her brow deepen into a frown.

“What did you tell her?”

“I, uh, I promised her I would buy her a new one.” She froze, slowly looked at him and then sighed.

“How are you planning on doing that? Bikes are expensive.” Ash shrugged.

“She asked me that too. But you know, I wanna be a pokemon trainer. There are ways to earn money.” Mads chuckled, muttering a “Cheap workforce.”

“And if I can win a tournament, I could repay her super fast.”

“If. Winning those isn’t easy. A lot of local trainers also participate. You know, the people that have had pokemon for about thirty years now and have been battling them for as long as well?”

At this, Ash slumped into a chair, looking sour. Pikachu called out to him, waddling over.

“Yeah, I know. She pointed that out too, but was less of a downer about it. Even if I won this one, it would take one and some to pay it back.”

Mads sat down next to him, just as sour. Ash turned to her, apprehensive.

“So I offered her something. I am sorry, I should have asked you first, but I was kinda panicking and-”

She interrupted him, hand clamping on his shoulder.

“What did you tell her?”

“Um, that she could travel with us so I could pay it...” Ash looked at her, clearly stunned beyond words. She blinked at him, opened and closed her mouth a few times, then got up and bashed her head into one of the white wall.

“I am sorry, I know I should have asked. I messed this up-” He was once again interrupted by Maddox. She let out a frustrated scream that sounded like “Fucking bitch!” Then she marched back to her seat, angrily plonking down on her butt.

“Lemme tell you what she did, yeah? That ginger fucker got a room with me and when I came in, she started wailing right into my face about how horrible I am. And then, as if it wasn’t enough, she made the whole of this PC think I am some dangerous fucking criminal.”

Ash looked at her stunned, thinking about what kind of a person he invited along. He murmured an apology, then looked at her. “I am sorry Mads. By Arceus, did I screw it up again.”

They stayed silent, Ash slowly stroking Pikachu who climbed in his lap in effort to console him.

“Hey Mads.” She hummed in acknowledgement. “I really am sorry for all that. If I hadn’t tried to catch that Starly, this wouldn’t have happened.” She hummed again. “If, um, if you want to, you know, leave and travel by yourself again, I wouldn’t blame you.”

“What? No.” He looked up at her frowning.

“You know, it’s my fault that we are stuck with her, so...”

“Ash, I am not leaving you alone with that harlot. She’s probably planning on taking all your money and then fucking off to Arceus knows where.” She reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone. After a moment, she showed him the screen.

“See? Bikes. Middle range are for about four thousand Rin. I got three thousand from your mom for the chaperoning.” 

Ash shook his head. “No, I won’t let you pay for my mistakes.”

“You can pay me back, in the three months we’ll be knocking about. And if it means that I won’t have to be anywhere near her manipulative ass, all the better.” She pulled her phone back, still looking at the screen.

“Even with that, we would need a thousand more. I have just four hundred and two of that is gonna go for the treatment.” He took a deep breath, “There is a tournament here. It starts in four days, entry fee is seventy five and winning base is a half a thousand.”

“No Token badge?” Ash shook his head, scratching Pikachu behind his ear.

“No. Arylide is under Viridian, but apparently it’s too much of a bother. So it’s just money and things.”

Maddox nodded.

“Okay, fine. We can enter the tournament, see if we get any good places and if not, we’ll suffer her for a bit, do some normal work and add that to the money from your mom. Is that agreeable?”

When it was decided what they would do, they both felt a bit lighter. All that was left to do was sign up with their pokemon and win. Just as a walk in a park.

Maybe.

They will see.

Probably not, though.


	9. Battle!

Maddox Fletchinger, Ash Ketchum, his Pikachu and her Joltik spent most of their four spare days before the Arylide Classic Tournament training. Now that Pikachu was on board with Ash, their groups battle skill rose quite significantly.

As in, more than twice.

Maddox wasn’t proud of that, she was pretty bad when it came to battling. Her pinnacle of strategy was “I dunno, defend yourself?” and resisting the urge to go punch the opponent herself.

She was still working on the second one.

When Saturday rolled around so did the official start of the Arylide Classic Tournament, and they were both standing nervously in the backstage, ready to be introduced one after the other to the audience.

For Maddox this experience was further soured by the appearance of Misty, who apparently entered as well. Yesterday, when the entry got closed, they received the roster of battles and to the surprise of Ash, he was battling second right that Saturday.

The crew of this show were moving about, hum of the audience was getting louder as more and more people got situated in their seats.

It was scary and exhilarating at the same time.

A woman with a clipboard climbed on top of a chair, turning to the small crowd of trainers.

“Listen up! So, the tournament will start in five minutes. The announcers will talk for a bit and then you will be called on stage, so listen for your cue. You can also see it on the monitor over there.” She pointed to one wall where a screen was mounted. It currently showed the audience as they moved about with drinks in hand, chatting.

“When you are called up on stage, go straight ahead to the hosts. They will give you a microphone and an easy question, so don’t embarrass yourselves.” Couple of people chuckled behind them, all older than fifteen.

Ash and Mads weren’t the only green trainers but they were still in minority by numbers.

“After you answer, they will send you away and you’ll line up in front of the field. Auronter Hosé?” A young man, probably in his late twenties, answered.

“You will be first. Make sure you are far enough to leave space for everyone else. Also, your pokemon, one of ‘em, will be out with you. Make sure they know that.” She started turning away, stopped and addressed them again.

“If you have more than one, make sure you take out a normal sized. You want to be visible over it, whatever it is, yeah? Don’t pick your nose and all that stuff,” Another chuckle swept through the group and both Ash and Maddox joined in.

“When you’re called off lights will dim on ya’ and I’ll be waving. Leave in a line, if you need to recall your pokemon, do so before you start moving.” The lady nodded, climbed down from the chair and looked at her watch. She motioned for the young man to stand near her, ordering for people to organise themselves according to their last name.

The activity surged to a spike and then went calm as the lights went off in the arena. Moments after bombastic music started, along with a smaller light show, as the two announcers entered the stage. Everyones eyes turned to the monitors.

“Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome, to Arylide Battle Tournament!” One of the two shouted out in greeting and the audience shouted back, excitement rising.

“My name is Adam Bartrop-” The second announcer cut in, “And I am Cyril Hickling, and we both will be your hosts for this tournament!”

They waited until the audience calmed down a little before one of them turned to the other.

“Hey Cyril, imagine, it’s already June.”

Cyril nodded, humming in agreement. “Mhm. Besides warmer weather, it brought the fourth tournament of this year with it. But that isn’t the only thing that June brings!”

Adam continued, shaking his head dramatically.

“No. As many of you know, at the beginning of this month, many new, young Pokemon Trainers set out for their journey across Kanto.”

“And we are lucky to have some of these new up-and-comers here tonight, competing for the first place! But Adam, what is the prize for that place? A diploma? A ribbon? A pat on the back?”

As terrible as they little theatre was, it making Ash increasingly nervous. He felt his hands go cold and something in his chest started vibrating, fighting against every breath he took.

“I am glad you asked. It’s none of these, thought there will be plenty of pats on the back to go around. No. We have several prizes for the first, second and third place! Beside the monetary prize, there are three special tailored leather pokeball holsters for those who win, courtesy of our sponsor, Monomet Leathers!” The second guy hummed, impressed.

“Oh, that sounds beautiful and handy. But that isn’t all. We have, for our combatants, a set of Emera solutions and tissue repair potions for their training and their healing.” The audience, along with the gaggle of trainers waiting to be introduced, were starting to lose attention.

“Woo, that is really something to be striving for. But what else can we be excited for?”

Ash was loosening up as the slightly awkward promotional banter went on.

“There is still one thing that can be won, apart from bragging rights, that is. Now let’s let our guest tell you about that.”

The spotlight swayed to the entrance and a lady was ushered through, coming out moments later on the monitor. 

“Please welcome Miss Harley Bell! Now, ladies and gentlemen, Harley is a on-hand trainer from Viridian Pokemon Gym, so you can guess what kind of a special prize we have for the winner.” The audience fluttered with renewed anticipation as the lady stopped next to the hosts and smiled.

“Hello and thank you. Yes, as you have alluded, the winner of the Arylide Battle Tournament is going to receive a Viridian Token Badge!” She raised her arm, holding the little badge in the air as the audience cheered.

The hosts clapped along, before one asked, “What can they use this for?”

Harley smiled at him, lowering her hand and putting the badge away into a box in her pocket.

“Oh, it is useful. If you are interested in entering the Indigo League Tournament at the end of the year, and you have eight of these Token Badges, you can skip the preliminary rounds and go straight into semi-finals of the tournament!”

Ash felt his excitement growing at the prospect of getting one of these, and he wasn’t the only one. Next to him, Maddox shifted on her feet, restless.

“And even if you aren’t, it is a pretty thing to display.” The second man shouted, nodding at the lady.

“Yes, that it is. Thank you, Harley.” She gave them back her microphone, waved once more in goodbyes and headed back.

“Now thought, we have everything ready to officially start and kick things off! So let’s meet our contestants!” The music picked up and with it the energy in the arena.

“First up we have a name we have heard before. Please welcome Hosé Auronter!”

This continued for some time for everyone in alphabetical order, until it came to Maddox.

“Ooh, now the next name is pretty familiar.” Ash could see Mads freeze up, dart her eyes to where Misty was standing, then square her shoulders and clench her teeth.

“Oh yes, it is. Please welcome to the stage Maddox Fletchinger!”

She was patted on the back by the organiser and then she was off. When she stopped next to the hosts, she gave a shy wave.

He couldn’t see her expression very well, but he was betting she was nervous, only by the way she was holding the microphone.

“Hello, Maddox!” the announcer who introduced himself as Adam sent her an amicable smile. “Now you are new to the battling scene, but your name is very familiar from the Indigo League Tournament. Your brother, Elliot, has reached quite far up. Are we going to see you do the same here?”

She gave an awkward chuckle and shook her head.

“Eh, probably not, I am definitely not as good as him.”

Adam nodded and patted her on her back too while Cyril sent a dazzling smile to the audience.

“Humble beginnings, I like that! We wish you good luck in your battles!” Then she handed off the microphone and lined up next to a man by the name of Octavian Fisher with a Mienshao standing in front of him, fur on its arm braided.

She gave him a mild smile and then, facing forward, she waited patiently for this to end.

* * *

When they were safely hidden away from the audience, Misty approached them.

“Ooh, I am so proud of you!” She looked straight at Mads, smiling brightly and… proud, as she claimed.

While Ash looked just confused, Maddox found herself becoming annoyed the moment the redhead opened her mouth.

“Please go away.” Not waiting for an answer, she turned to Ash and resumed their previous conversation.

“I don’t really think that is going to be a problem, with the lights on you won’t be able to see most of the audience.” The raven-haired boy looked at both of them, staying very still as if moving would somehow set them off. Misty’s smile faded away quicker than Mads interest and she was left with annoyed look on her face.

“And I am taking it back.” The ginger sighed, shook her head. Then she looked at Ash, gave him an apologetic smile, wished him good luck in his first battle and walked away. 

“Um, you said that she was horrible?”

Maddox shrugged.

“I am not waiting for her to open her mouth again and try to embarrass me in front of everyone here.” 

Ash looked mildly scandalized. “Why would she do that?!” 

She sighed.

“Ash… Bullies exist. We are lucky that the ones we knew weren’t as bad.” He nodded, but didn’t push the issue further. With his own battle less than two hours away, he had other things to focus on - like staying calm. 

Unfortunately for him, two o’clock came too soon, and while the hosts talked with a local battle master about type advantages of grass versus water, Ash sat on a bench and bounced his knee, staring at the monitor.

There was some slow motion footage of the battle, of an attack being carried out by the winning Kingler on Steenee. His future opponent was sitting in a chair maybe two meters away from him, calmly reading a book about gardening and sipping tea.

As much as Ash was confident in Pikachu’ abilities, seeing the older man so calm made him even more nervous. The chair squeeked against the floor and then a hand clamped on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry so much, young man. Everything will be fine, if Arceus gives. You can ask Him for His favour in a prayer.” The man patted him and let go.

“I am not really religious, but… I guess it would stop me from worrying.” He gave the older man an awkward smile.

“Well, if you don’t believe in higher powers, you can at least believe in yourself.” With that, the older man walked back to his seat and back to his book. Ash was calmer and thankful. It was true, he should believe in himself and in Pikachu. They might not have started in the best way, but now that they were working together, there was little they couldn’t do. 

The calm lasted for some time. 

Booming voices announced the next battle on the itinerary and then a fifteen minute pause. People shuffled from their seats, talking loudly, but to him it sounded like a hive-like chatter. 

How long would he have?

He wanted to battle, so that it could be over, waiting was horrible.

Ash now fully understood why so many trainers in the preliminaries of the Indigo League were just a useless mush on the field. By the time they got up there, nerves have eaten them up whole.

He looked to Maddox, who was dutifully sitting with him, staring at her hands obviously deep in thought. From their two training battles they had, he was half-worried that she would end up the same.

Well, better to worry about himself right now.

The time passed with the speed of light and before he was really ready for it, he was being pushed onto the stage. As if breaching the surface of water, the moment he stood in the dancing lights of the stage, Ash felt alive. His heart started to flutter in excitement, pushing a growing smile on to his face. He lifted his head and walked forward.

“Ash Ketchum, ladies and gentlemen! So, Ash, how are you feeling before the battle?” Ash blinked twice and gave the host a broad smile.

“I am looking forward to it. It’s our first tournament, me and my pokemon, so we’ll see how it goes.”

“Are you hoping to win?” Along with the audience and the music in the background, he was getting pumped up. This is what he was dreaming about.

“I would like that, yeah!” 

He returned the microphone and made his way to the raised platform on the right side of the arena. It was smaller than he anticipated, octagonal with metal posts at each corner. To prevent any stray attacks from reaching the audience, a chain link fence was stretched from post to post.

Pikachu could use those to his advantage, depending on what his opponent was.

Ash climbed the tight, spiral stairs and took position. From this vantage point, he saw most of the field, and if he bent over the railing, he could see right below the platform too.

This was something their training battles didn’t have - now, they weren’t just guessing what was going on beyond the cloud of dust kicked up by their pokemon or over their forms. Now, they were in position of tacticians.

A woman in a police uniform walked up on the third platform to Ashes right. She put on a headset microphone, tapped it twice to make sure it was working and when two resounding thuds sounded through the hall speakes, she nodded towards the host.

“Well then, ladies and gentlemen, we are finally ready for the second battle of today! On the left, we have Link Vincent, a local butcher, and on the right we have Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, a new trainer on his exciting journey! Before I give word over to our referee, I would like to remind you that the betting pool is now closing for this battle.” Then he waved his hand at the referee, who nodded again and cleared her throat.

“This will be a one on one battle. Once you choose your pokemon, they cannot be changed out for another. Pokemon engage each other, with no third side involving themselves in the battle.” Ash was hearing it for the second time today, and it probably wasn’t last time either.

“All attack aim to disable, not kill. The battle ends if one pokemon faints, surrenders, has the least hit points by the end of the time limit or is otherwise unable to battle. Item use is prohibited. Targeting monitoring chips is discouraged.” As boring as it was probably going to become listening to these rules, it was important to outline them, so ruling couldn’t be argued.

“Time limit is ten minutes. Ash Ketchum, Link Gilmore Vincent, do you both understand and agree with these terms?”

When they both loudly proclaimed that they do, the referee instructed them to choose a pokemon and place it in its pokeball on the small table in front of them.

The big monitor above them lit up and when the scan was complete, they both had their names up there, along with two bars with a 100% written next to them.

“Please release your pokemon.”

That was their cue and Ash took on it with gusto. He didn’t yet have a flourish thought up, something that many trainers he watched on TV had.

On his side of the field stood Pikachu, ready to attack or dodge and on the other stood a light brown dog with a puffy tail. Link called him Heros, which was clearly not the species name.

He had no clue what the little dog could do, going of just the appearance was risky but that was all he had.

“And begin!” A blue flag was swung through the air, the audience went silent and then, it began.

* * *

The moment the referee shouted “Begin!” the little brown dog started running. Ash called out for Pikachu to shock him and arcs of electricity surged to the charging dog, singing it’s fur. It slowed down momentarily, shook of the remaining charge, then sped up again.

Before Pikachu had a chance to shock him again, Heros collided with him. They both went flying with momentum almost out of his sight and Pikachu ended up slamming into the fence harshly, metal clinking from impact.

Blips from the monitor up above them told Ash that Pikachu was hurt. He tried to ignore both the blips and the announcer, instead concentrating on his pokemon. He knew they weren’t out of the battle yet, but it was his job to come up with something that would give them the upper hand.

“Pikachu is getting up, not quite done from that spectacular tackle from Rockruff!”

Pikachu, indeed, got up with a dazed “Pi.” red cheeks crackling, ready to electrify the dog.

The older man across the field called out “Snare him!” but to Ash’ surprise, the Rockruff stayed in place. It wound its head back and took a deep breath, then set it low and snarled. The sound was strangely echo-like, like hitting an empty barrel in the basement.

Ash watched with both fascination and horror as small tendrils of shadow curled up and around Pikachu, holding him in place.

“Good, now bite!”

Pikachu struggled against the tendrils, shocking them to get rid of them, but they held fast.

Rockruff ran up to him, chomping down on Pikachus shoulder area. He cried out in pain as he was jerked out of the grasp of the shadows and shaken violently like he was just a plush toy.

He desperately tried to scrabble out of the iron-like grip, scratching Heros’ neck with no avail.

With one final jerk, he was thrown towards the center of the small arena, landing hard on the injury.

The hall went silent, everyone waiting with baited breath if Pikachu was going to get up or tap out. Into the silence, Ash called out quiet encouragements.

“Come on Pikachu, you can do it! I believe in you!” 

Pikachu twitched his ear, hearing his trainer loud and clear. He let out equally pained and angry “Chuu...” and pushed up, ignoring the bloody puddle he was leaving behind.

“Yes! Pikachu, get to the fence and climb up!”

Now, the plan was clear. Ash needed to keep the dog away and be able to attack.

Yellow sparks surged from Pikachu’ cheeks as it took off running towards the chain-link. 

“After him!”

Rockruff sprung from the slow stalking to full sprint in a race to the fence. Pikachu started climbing, tiny arms frantically pushing his little yellow body up. He was high enough, but his tail...

“Your tail, look out!” Pikachu swiftly raised it from the awaiting, bloodied maw. The Rockruff continued in its trajectory, smacking face-first into a sturdy, metal pole.

Few blips from above told him that the collision hurt, but clearly not enough to deter the dog for more than a moment.

He was trying to climb the fence after Pikachu, who was sitting on top of the metal pole. He looked exhausted, cradling his injury, ears and tail twitching in worry as he watched Rockruff make progress climbing.

They were running out of time, but luckily now they had the upper hand.

“Now’s your chance, Pikachu!”

His pokemon nodded, glaring viciously at the brown dog that was hanging onto the fence by paws and teeth. A shock went straight through the metal and into the soft gums.

The Rockruff whined and let go, falling down with a thump. Another shock was sent his way, but ran to the metal and away. The dog got up, sluggish from the attack, but still kicking. It growled and ran for the metal pylon, trying to knock the electrical mouse off.

Another shock surged forward and hit its mark and with a whine of pain, Heros’ front paw started twitching. Quickly, it’s whole body seized up, muscles tense. 

Shock after shock, each weaker as Pikachu ran out of energy, streamed towards the paralyzed dog and it could do very little but take it.

Link raised his hand in a gesture of peace and with his other, he lifted the plastic cover of a white button on the small table. He pressed it, signalising forfeit.

The moment he did, a team of medics surged forward, ready to administer first aid to the injured combatants.

Ash did the same, reaching for Pikachu as he tiredly slumped on his perch, swaying dangerously forward. He saw him approach and hopped down, landing square in his arms.

“Pi i i i... ” Ashes arms were tugged open for the paramedic to examine the injured mouse.

“Hey Pikachu, you were awesome. You got up and made your stand, I’m really proud.” His reassurances were answered with another “Pi-ka.”, now less wrecked but still tired.

When the bleeding was stopped, bandaged and sedated, Ash put his very tired pokemon on the small trolley that the medical team brought. He wanted to follow and keep vigil as they operated on him, but was instead tugged towards the hosts.

He did the interview, mind elsewhere, and was let go shortly after in favour of a more responsive participant.

There was a stain of blood on his jacket. Mads took it from him when he dazedly made his way to his pokemon.

He did receive a few pats on the back as congratulations, too.

Pikachu was in a separate room, lying on the same square bed as he had had in the PokeCenter. Next to him was a pink and purple pokemon, gently levitating in the air with a tiny trickle of smoke coming from its head. It dissipated into the air, leaving no visible trace. The pokemon was gently bobbing up and down, concentrating on something while one of the medics applied tissue repair potion to the wound.

“Muu.” Ash didn’t know what this species was called. Its voice had an echo to it, but unlike the snarl from Rockruff, this one felt soothing.

“There, done. He should feel only a faint ache, but that should be gone with a good night sleep.” The medic got up, nodded to Ash and then left with his pokemon, leaving them alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weekly... Heh, aren't I funny? My apprach to this story is sporadic, since I let it lie for a month before picking it up again. So the limbo will inevitably happen. Depending on what I do, I will be reminded of it more often and update.  
> Consistency is for well-adjusted people anyway.  
> I decided to take artistic liberty with the attacks (magic) that pokemon perform. Rockruff can learn Snarl, and I imagined the Dark typing is connected with manipulating shadows. What effects the attack will have is up to the user and probably some limitations I come up with to up the drama of the fight.  
> Also, we finally utilise the rating. Blood, injuries, probable death.  
> But still several moral questions stand unanswered, ones aimed at the pokemon franchise in general. Since I wanted to explain the way of this world organically, we'll get to it eventually.  
> Also, I finally got around to playing Ultra Sun and boy... Is Gamefreak allergic to logical character interactions? I am getting whiplash with how confused I am. Cause comedic relief is at its best when it actually gives relief from a serious issue. If not, it just falls flat. There is a whole big debate on their approach to the games and the world, the struggle to generate interest in the games and keep them from being bombarded from internet animal activists more then they are and the solution doens't lie in the safe route they're taking, but since this fic has literaly no sway over their decisions, it is best left for other places.


	10. 19_06_334

_Hi. It’s me again, surprise… Eh._

The recording started with her tired, lackluster greeting. There was a hum of activity, muffled by a door or a wall, and the whole sound had an echo.

_So, it has been a few days since I recorder anything, but I really wasn’t up for it. A lot has happened._

A noise of nails scratching skin nearby.

_I made an enemy, a very manipulative enemy._

A long pause.

 _We trained some, for the tournament - oh yeah, we signed up for the Arylide Tournament. That’s gonna go_ **_great_ ** _._

She huffed, but otherwise stayed silent.

_Well, I guess that’s that. Oh! Lesson learned - wash blood out when it's fresh, or it will stain forever._

A sardonic chuckle. Then, she sighed _._

_I’ll fill you in more about the battles and everything later. Bye._

The recording ended there.

* * *

When Ash finally left the medical room, it was with Pikachu in his arms swaddled into his slightly damp jacket like a little baby. People were walking past him, already taking care of combatants from the third battle.

Nobody gave him a second glance nor did they question what he was doing here still - they had a show to run. He walked to the backstage lobby, full of quiet chittering of people while the voice of an announcer bellowed from the hall speakers. He spotted Mads in a chair facing the monitor, expressions of disgust and exasperation switching on her face like a carousel.

He sat down next to her and looked up to see Misty on the screen, talking about a moment in the battle. By the focus the host was giving her, she must have won.

“Holy shit is her voice annoying.” He ignored her, listening to the interview. Misty was explaining how the move Swift worked and why was it something to have in your arsenal.

“Congratulation on the win, by the way.” She turned slightly to have him in her periphery, derision safely tucked away for its original target.

“Thanks. Most of it was Pikachu. He was amazing.” Both looked down to the bundled up yellow mouse, sleeping soundly in his arms.

“Yeah, the murder mouse finally listens to you, huh?” He shot her a glare, leaning away and bringing Pikachu closer to him. Mads raised her hands in surrender, rolling her eyes.

“Yes, okay, I get. No bad words about him.” Letting her hands back down, her tone turned sincere. “He did well in the battle.”

Ash agreed, adjusting his sleeping pokemon a little.

The interview must have ended, because with blaring music from the hall, Misty came in. She spotted them and smiled widely.

“Hey Ash! Hey, Maddox.” Even though the greeting was perfectly normal to him, he felt Mads tense up next to him. Ash greeted the redhead back.

“Good luck on your battle, I’ll be cheering.” He turned slightly to see the Medicham girl fight down a sneer that Misty was studiously ignoring. Ash was starting to think that whatever animosity was between them was mainly on Mads’ side. She nodded, but didn’t answer, so Misty turned to him instead.

“I’ll see you around. I still want to visit Anna and see how is her Stufful doing.” She waved with a bright smile and left. Maddox murmured a sarcastic “What a samaritan.” under her breath.

“She visited me too, to see how Pikachu is doing.” She hummed, but didn’t answer.

After another moment of silence, she spoke up again.

“What is your dream?”

Shocked out of his thought of the upcoming battles, Ash was less than eloquent.

“Huh?”

Maddox sighed, shaking her head. She nodded in the direction the redhead left, taking a breath.

“In her interview, she talked about her dream of being the best water pokemon trainer. So I thought that you might have a dream like that too.” Ash nodded, answer as clear as it was when he was ten.

“I want to be the best pokemon trainer there is.” Her immediate answer was a snort of laughter. She bit her lip to stop it, but her amusement was still clearly visible.

“Really?”

Ash frowned, on defensive. “Yes! What is so funny about that?”

Maddox shrugged, smirking.

“Just that you have a long way to go. Is’all.” Now it was Ash’ turn to roll his eyes.

“You asked for a dream. I have more short term goals too.”

“Like?”

“Beating Gary.” 

“Gary?” She blinked rapidly, sudden inclusion giving her a whiplash. “Well, that’s easy.”

“How?”

Impish grin on her face, Mads cracked her knuckles.

“Just jump him where there’s noone around and out of reach of his pokemon, punch him a few times.” Once again, Ash found his eyes facing the ceiling, she giggled.

“In a pokemon battle. Why would I beat up my rival, anyway?” 

“Your rival?”

Ash nodded, sheepish.

“Yeah, he is.”

Maddox hummed, frowning in thought. Then she spoke up again.

“Does he know about that?”

“...No.”

She sighed, shaking her head.

“Then he’s just a person you wanna beat. Like a gym leader or something. For a rivalry to work, you have to meet often and fight often. And measure how better you became inbetween.”

Ash didn’t say anything. Maddox looked at him after her little rant, pulling a face when she realized she was belittling what he hoped to achieve as trivial. Maybe the nervosity from her own upcoming battle was to blame?

Probably not. This wasn’t the first time she put her foot in her mouth.

“You said goals. So what about the other ones?”

Ash looked forward, eyes distant as he envisioned his ideal future. Unconsciously, he made small circles with his thumb on the short, smooth fur of Pikachus front leg.

“Well, I would like to have at least six pokemon, trained up. It would be great if I could catch one and tame it, too.”

Mads hummed, lowering her voice, trying not to jostle him out of his reverie. The small smile he wore did him well.

“I mean, you can nab a Caterpie and tame her just fine, but that is not what you had in mind, eh?” He chuckled, shaking his head.

“No. And remember that Starly?” She grimaced, looking away. “Yeah, I did try to just ‘nab it’. Didn’t really work.”

“Heh, true.” They were silent, listening to the bustle around them. He could see her leg bouncing and he wasn’t surprised. Her battle was next.

Before he could ask her about it, she spoke up.

“Do you have any other?”

“Well, there is the one… Nevermind.” To find his dad and beat him in a battle. But really, she didn’t need to know that. 

“Do you have one, too?” She snapped back to him, tense and still. Then she relaxed, almost like it was practiced, and shrugged.

“Hmm, not really. After we meet up with Harvey and Connor, I am probably gonna go home.”

“What?!” He startled a camera attendant who was heading to the darkened stage, making him glance at the two and then speed up his pace. Maddox chuckled.

“Why are you so shocked? I was bumped out for a journey because Elliot. He is a successful trainer and momma is hoping I will be one too. But...” She shrugged, “I know I am not like Elliot. He is a natural. I am not.”

Ash frowned in concentration, counter-argument ready.

“Yes you are. You gave me an opening to get Pikachu and found a good place to hide.” She shook her head, turning to face him now that her views were challenged.

“JJ did that without my prompting and you would easily be able to find a hiding place on your own. I am really not good with battles, I would rather just punch my opponent instead.” They chuckled - he could definitely see her running up to the opponent in a pokemon battle and taking them down herself while JJ cheered.

The lights from the stage flared and the lady with a clipboard was back, swiftly approaching Maddox.

“Ugh, why did I think this was a good idea?”

Ash freed one hand form under his slumbering pokemon and patted her shoulder.

“You’ll do great. We’ll be cheering. Just don’t jump in and punch them, okay?”

She shot him an amused grin that lit up her face and made her eyes twinkle. Or maybe that was just the stage lights.

And then, her battle started.

* * *

Maddox looked calm, took measured steps, gave polite smiles and statements. He didn’t know how she did it, how she stayed so cool - when he was up there, he felt like he drank two or three energy drinks, buzzing with energy.

And so like a good friend, he fiddled anxiously for her.

They were once again told the rules of the battle, proclaimed their agreement and readied their pokemon. During that, Misty came to sit with him, leaning slightly over to peer at pikachu. Ash shrunk a bit with the urge to curl around his pokemon protectively, but he let her examine him. 

When she leaned back, it was to a flare of lights as the battle began.

Maddox, from what he could see of her, looked surprised for a moment before she downright scowled in concentration.

When he saw her opponent, he understood.

Wound around three metal poles like a green garland was a garden hose.

A moving garden hose.

It was long, rearing up like a snake and shooting droplets of water like bullets at the scuttling spider.

“Wanna bet on what that is?”

Mistys voice startled him.

“What?” She nodded towards the pokemon on screen.

“That thing. Klefki or Rotom.”

Ash has heard of both names, but had no other information for them. His silent question, it seemed, was heard nonetheless.

“Uh, both spirits. Klefki is a fay, Rotom is a ghost, but both can possess objects.” Ash nodded, absorbing the information. He was fairly sure that was not all to it, since there were many other pokemon that possessed an object or another, but there were more interesting things to think about.

Like why was JJ shooting so many webs around.

Ash didn’t have to wonder for long, as he could see the garden hose pokemon trying to aim more water bullets, just to be deflected by the webs.

Spider silk was surprisingly strong, he knew from experience.

JJ scurried along, four deft legs pattering like crazy along the white tendrils but not getting stuck - he knew where to step, which strand was sticky on which side, or maybe he never got stuck to his own webs. Ash had no clue.

He was closing in, mandibles ready. The opponent noticed, ordered a physical approach and the hoses other end swung towards the yellow spider. He jumped away, caught by more webs, swinging into the fence as the web tendril broke.

Maddox shouted something, making a wide gesture that cut through air and the JJ was shooting more webs, tangling the very tail that attacked him. It stuck and no amount of pulling or tugging was getting it out.

Like a rabid animal, JJ descended on his newly captured prey, ready to gnaw his way to victory.

He chewed and chewed, making a sizable hole that started leaking water.

JJs lead did not last long, as the other end spouted more water his way, catching him square in the back. He tumbled back, caught on more web, then shook off the water like a dog. Ash could almost see how his eyes narrowed in angry determination, the same as Maddox did when presented with a problem.

The saying about pokemon mirroring their trainers had something to it, after all.

In retaliation, he shot more webbing, partially plugging the free end. He stayed away, now more cautious, but another command from Maddox had him nodding his front half of his body and advancing again.

Ash felt Misty shake her head next to him, muttering “One hit and he's out.” under her breath.

JJ bit down again, but was quick on his feet to dodge, keeping two out of his four eyes on his opponent. It was a cycle of bite, dodge, bite, dodge, until either the man or the pokemon got sick of this chase and the head end swung down.

The hose smashed through several webs, not enough to free its tail, but the sticky webbing already present around that end stuck itself to the strings.

The little force it could generate to move was not enough to break the webs, not without the help of momentum, and with two more well-shot webs, JJ had free access to over half its body without having to worry about attacks.

There was more gnawing before the man pressed his forfeit button, ending the fight in favour of Maddox.

The results were sound along with loud cheering that was echoed by Ash as well.

They did it!

She might have claimed something about not being a natural, but clearly that was not to be believed. Those two were a team, a force to be reckoned with.

Mads finally gave in to the urge and vaulted over the railing on the cubicle, to the chargin of the announcer. With a shrill trill that was caught on microphones, JJ leaped into her arms, restless in his happiness. He did a few laps of her head, shoulders and the chest, happily nuzzling into a place or another.

When he finally settled in the crook of her bony neck, the announcer was swatting away hanging webs from the fence gate and beckoning them over for a chat.

Maddox, while visibly glowing with glee, did not overtly change her way of addressing the host. She said everything with calm answers and a small smile on her face, occasionally petting the yellow spider and holding up for him a few jelly gummies that were given to them by the paramedic staff.

He was certain a few "Awww"s came from the audience.

When she was out she was congratulated by others, as well as Ash and Misty. The distaste she had for the redhead was quelled for polite indifference and swift dismissal for now. If Misty was put of by it, she didn’t show it.

They got up to leave into the warm evening, Ash holding his sleeping pokemon close, Misty whistling happily and Maddox perturbed about Mistys presence, the high from recent victory just a lingering memory now.

She was suspicious and unfortunately, the universe did not disappoint when a tall man in a dark jacket stepped to them at the back entrance of the stadium and asked.

“Maddox Fletchinger?”

“Yes?”

“You are under arrest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tun tun tuuuuuh! Cliffhanger!  
> Did they really think the past wouldn't catch up to them? *insert evil laugh here*  
> I forgot to explain a few things from the last chapter - Emera solutions. Emera are from Mystery Dungeon spin off, where they provided temporary buffs from knowing where enemies are to Mega Evolution. Here, they are the basis of both temporary and permanent boosts - the likes of X-Attack and HP-up. They provide much bigger boost and are pretty valuable. Where they come from will be touched upon in a future chapter (maybe even the next one!).  
> Another thing this chappter touched was pokemon species. They have been divided (by me) into four groups - Animal, Elemental, Spirits and Awakened. Both Klefki and Rotom are in the Spirits category, as they can possess objects. The difference between those two and other Spirits is that they often change objects, unlike, for example, a Bannette or Drifloon.  
> Also, yay for blooming friendship!  
> And the numbers up top, the 19_06_334, is the current date. The year is counted from a big colonial war, somewhat like WW1, but I'm pretty sure you don't need any more info-dumps in notes then is strictly necessary.


	11. Resolutions and silent promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya people!  
> Here is the resolution of this "Arch", since thats how I wrote these.  
> The comments are awesome, never thought they would make me as happy as they do. I should have realised that Misty, being the current antagonist, would get the appropriate hate for it. I didn't, because I remember her still as a protagonist from the days of yore when I watched the anime, where she had an important role on Ashes journey.  
> On that note - Here is what happens when you're a pokemon trainer and get arrested.

“You are under arrest.”

All three were in shocked stupor until he took a step closer to the medicham girl. She tensed, Joltik turned his four-eye glare at him and both her companions swayed closer to her in an unconscious gesture of protection.

But, they were kids.

He didn’t think this would come down to a fight.

Then, as if winding up a music box, she started talking.

“What am I being arrested for?”

“Public endangerment.” She hummed, narrowing her eyes. The girl had a good poker face, but the boy did not - he looked appalled and slightly guilty, but most importantly, not surprised. Neither did the redhead.

“May I see an identification? A badge?” 

A typically evasive type - the kind that caused trouble. And so he took a badge out of his breast pocket and handed it to the boy in a sharp gesture, making him jump a little. He took it with apprehension and read it for a moment.

“Dean McRuffle, professional... Bounty hunter?!” The boy handed it back with bewilderment, clearly not sure what to think but both girls frowned. The yellow spider made his displeasure known with a low trill.

“Bounty hunter... Well they certainly have the right to make an arrest.” The redhead threw an apologetic look at them.  “Maybe you should go with him.”

They turned to her, a scowl blooming on the Medichams face.

"You went to the police?!" So the redhead was the direct witness mentioned in the report.  "What, why-" She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Misty why exactly are you so hellbent on making me a pariah? Is it personal, or something to do with Ash? Are you, like, a stalker or whatever-" Misty didn't let her finish, posture and tone defensive.

"No! Listen, I did _not_ go to the police." The only answer was a dubious stare.

"Oh Arceus, you don't believe me. The whole point of me joining you two was to make sure you don't anger anymore pokemon and put people in danger. You being arrested would make my effort useless, wouldn't it?"

The medicham blinked several times, reaching a conclusion with a frown. She lowered her voice again, tensing up.

"Wait. You think that I-" She looked at the boy wide-eyed,"I thought-" She glanced at Dean and clenched her teeth, looking away in tired defeat.

It was clear that there was more to it then just an angry flock, but that wasn't his job to figure out. He was about to grab the girl and steer her to the station, when the boy reached an epiphany and addressed him.

"You can't arrest her, she is innocent!" He straightened up, looking him in the eyes.

"It was me! I angered the flock. Mads ran in to help, but it was all my fault. I thought you knew…" The last bit was aimed at the redhead, who stepped to him as if calming a scared pokemon.

"Ash, you don't have to take the fall for her mistakes. She won't learn-"

"I am not taking the fall, _she_ is! I went to take a - uhm - and saw a Starly. I read a lot about catching and taming wild pokemon and wanted to try it."

He turned to the bounty hunter.

"Really, Mads is innocent."

The man looked at him passively. As honorable as it was to come clean, it wasn't up to him to decide. Ash waited a moment, expecting something to happen. When nothing did he took a breath to argue again, but Maddox stopped him.

"Ash, you're barking up the wrong tree."

"What?" There was a tiny, relieved smile on her face, but her posture didn’t change.

"He is not a cop. He can't change the warrant or do anything else to it. He's just a messenger." At her words his shoulders slumped in defeat, voice taking a desperate edge.

"Then what _can_ we do? What is going to happen to you?"

He looked genuinely worried for her. Misty took the final step to him, putting a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"He can't change anything, but someone can. Let's go. Destination, police station!"

Maddox rolled her eyes at Mistys theatricality, but the tiny smile didn’t leave. Misty took that as a win.

It was already dusk by the time they reached the police station, street lamps illuminating the building like a spotlight of impending doom. At least, to Ash it felt like that.  He regretted his stupid decision the moment he got Pikachu hurt and then when Misty pushed on Maddox. And now, she was paying for his mistakes again.

Arceus, was he an idiot.

The reception area was small, with a lot of chairs and a few plants, but it didn’t make him any calmer. Mads went first, by the virtue of being shadowed by a big dude, who watched her like she was about to pull out a gun. Maybe it did happen to him before.

The lady at the front gave them a cordial smile, noticed Misty and started talking.

“Hello miss. Unfortunately we haven’t found anything new, but when there is a development, you’ll be the first to know.”

Ash swore he could hear Mads growl.

“You did not go, hmm?” She said in a low, bitter voice. Misty shook her head vehemently.

“No, I went here because of the stolen bike. I promise it was just about that.”

Maddox hummed in acknowledgement but did not answer.

The bounty hunter, still looming behind her, took a folded paper out of his pocket and his identification and presented them to the receptionist. 

She looked surprised for a moment, looking up at the trio. Mads gave a small wave, pursing her lips slightly. The woman nodded, no longer as friendly as before.

“I’ll have to ask you to put your pokemon into their pokeballs and leave them here.” Ash was about to protest, but the man loomed over to him as well, and so he begrudgingly took out a pokeball and put Pikachu inside.

With his jacket now empty, he put it back on.

Three baskets with pokeballs were marked by sticky-notes and then, they were led further back. They stopped at a desk of Officer Parotsky, as the nameplate stated; a large man who was sloshing what looked like cold coffee in his mug with distaste. 

The police officer took the note, copied something into his computer and set it to print. He looked at the trio, lingering on Maddox, then nodded at his coworker who left, bounty hunter in tow.

“So. Public endangerment. Irresponsible.”

He looked at her pointedly. She didn't react, standing tense in what looked like royal indifference. He shook his head and got up, motioning for them to follow. The sound of a printer snapped Ash out of his stupor.

“Sir, Maddox is innocent. I did it. I angered the flock. She helped me get away from it.”

The policeman turned his equally stoic gaze to him.

“Your name?”

“Ash Ketchum, sir.”

Ash shrunk under his gaze, guilt spiking again. The man nodded, leading them to a conference table. When they were seated, Mity started talking.

“This all is probably my mistake. And a misunderstanding.”

Three pairs of eyes looked at her, two in surprise at the admittance, one that looked like they wanted to roll in exasperation.

"Alright kids, let's get this straight."

And so they did.

* * *

_ Guess what, I got arrested. _

A dry chuckle.

_ I know, I know, needs explaining. Um. Remember the thing with a flock of birds and the girl that blamed me? Well, she got it into her brain to righteously protect my charge, as I wasn’t deemed good enough. _

There was a shuffle of clothing and a squeek of bed springs.

_ She followed me around for a bit and when I snapped and asked her why, she turned it around on me and made me seem like an unrepentant criminal. Very publicly, might I add. Bitch… _

Her voice was angry and low, so was the occasional trilling from her pokemon.

_ So someone must have actually called the police and since I am an official trainer, they sent a bounty hunter to do the arrest. _

Now calm but jaded, she tore open a crinkly packet and started eating, talking between the bites of something crunchy.

_ Funny though - both Ash and Misty spoke up for my defence. Didn’t really expect that, well. Ash is the type to be honorable. _

She swallowed loudly and made an uncomfortable noise. Then a questioning trill, to which she answered.

_ I’m fine JJ, just gotta chew more. Um, right. As trainers, we fall under internal affairs of PA instead of normal judicial system. Which means that the moment the Police wrote everything up, they shoved us over to Trainer Coalition. The closest representatives are the local rangers. _

_ They gave us some glares, a lecture on what to do next time in the face of angry flocks and swarms. Since we are minors and birds are pretty easy to startle away, we received just a week of community service. _

She sighed, shaking the packet and its content.

_ Misty volunteered the week in solidarity or something - Misty is the girl with the bike and manipulations. She’s also joining us since Ash feels guilty about her bike and is planning on getting her a new one. _

She snickered, taking another big bite and chewing loudly.

_ Dunno how long she’ll last with us. If the trend keeps up, we’ll be fighting mafia and stopping doomsday devices by the end of the month. _

She finished her treat, crumpling the wrapper noisily. There was a low thunk and a cheer.

_ I think that’s it? Oh wait, no. The battles. So, Ash won ‘cause Murder Mouse now listens to him. And I also won - JJ and a lot of webs versus a waterhose klefki. How do you even get a klefki into a waterhose anyway? There is not nearly enough mischief in it to attract a fey… Anyway, I think now I’ve said everything. All of us have another battle today. Wish me luck. I’ll need it, with my track record. _

There was a huff of laughter and then the recording ended.

* * *

“Ladies and gentlemen, the second battle of the second set is about to begin! On one side, we have Ash Ketchum with his Pikachu, who have already shown their prowess on the field! It was tense, it was _bloody_ and it was electrifying!” Adam Bartrop bellowed in his best announcer voice at the audience. He always loved pokemon battles. Hell, even contests were amazing!

Who cares if he doesn’t participate, as long as he gets to be near it when it happens. And as it was, he had the best seat in the house.

“Yes, it was quite the battle. Our second combatant is Jacob Beudecer, a man with a vision who can put it to canvas! Who is going to accompany him on the field? In the line-up yesterday, he stood proud with a Kricketune, but will he also send him out today?” Adam knew that Cyril loved his job, for the pure joy of being heard. He couldn’t fault him for it, not really.

They made a great team.

“Well, we certainly will find out soon enough. Now as we wait for the combatants to get ready, I would like to remind you that bets are about to close on this match. How are the chances for either side to win?” He must have seen the producer by the stage motioning for them to stall.

“The chances are pretty equal - we have already seen a spectacular win from Ketchum and Pikachu, the determination they had to go on was astounding, but unfortunately shined only when things were dire. Beudecer is not a newcomer for us here in Arylide, but he never reached further then semifinals.”

Adam nodded, not glancing behind - there was a flurry of activity by the entrance, but he could not take a look without calling attention to it.

“If we speculate with his choice being Kricketune, then Pikachu might be in trouble. Not by matchup, but by sheer force the second-stage pokemon can generate. Infestation, a well known bug move, is indeed hard to dodge and harder to outlast.”

The producer gave them a thumbs up, and finally, the show was on the road.

“Enough with speculations though. Let’s give warm welcome to our combatants, Ash Ketchum and Jacob Beudecer!”

The bombastic music was mixing with sharp, loud clapping as the excited crowd welcomed the fighters. Harvey Bell, the judge for today, explained the rules of the battle, acquired their agreement, and then, the battle began.

“On one side of the field, we have Pikachu who is facing against a Ponyta! What a choice. As a type matchup, there as no clear advantages on either side, but that means often very little.”

Both pokemon stood their ground, seizing each other up, waiting for directions.

“And Ponyta is on the move! Going straight for Pikachu, who is sending out shocks and trying to keep his distance. He’s running out of space - He’s going up like last time to get some breathing room but Ponyta is not having it! She kicks the fence, shaking it hard enough and Pikachu falls! Ladies and gentlemen, will he get up quick enough to get away from those hooves?”

There was an audible flinch from the audience and Pikachu received a hoof to his midsection, flying off to the other side of the field and landing in a roll.

“That must smart! Ponyta, it seems, received a bit of a shock herself just before. She is still rearing to go however, hooves ready to find its target, but Pikachu is weaving in and out like a professional boxer. Ooh, that was close - a bit to the side and he would be out cold!”

With third blow going just over his head, Pikachu started to retreat. Ash shouted, pointing forward.

“Pikachu quickly climbs and is safely on top of the fence, firm and ready to electrify! What will Ponyta do?” Jacob clapped loudly, leaning forward enough that his thick, long braid hit against the railing.

“It seems that Ponyta has learned the lesson from Rockruff yesterday, as she is staying away from the metal and possible paralysis! And there comes the fire, barely missing - Pikachu is on the move along the tops, fire hot on his heels!”

Pikachu was fast, but with a linear path to take, he didn’t have much of a leeway.

“Ponyta is trying to cut him off but Pikachu leaps onto her back, holding fast with cheeks sparking! She is trying to buck him off, but receives a hefty shock for her troubles! Health is going down and fast and - It’s over! Ladies and gentlemen, Pikachu is once again victorious!”

The excited yelling was deafening. People who won bets were celebrating while the medics were tending to the fighters. They led Ash Ketchum to them, motioning to the big screen above that was ready for slow-motion replays.

“Congratulations on the win! So, what was the inspiration for that winning move?”

The boy wasn’t half as distracted as last time, his Pikachu proudly sitting on his shoulder, drinking in the attention.

“Well, we had to get close enough to attack without Ponyta noticing…”

* * *

Misty fought with deliberation of years of practice. She was confident and focused, working on potential strategies her opponent could use.

Maddox fought with manic energy akin to an adrenaline rush. She was tense, frozen in place with fear whenever her opponent landed a hit.

Mistys Ducklett - Napali - was graceful even in the confined space of the ring.

JJ was tirelessly webbing up the space between fences.

Ducklett dodged projectiles of water and ice from Sealeo, sending a barrage of her own back.

JJ got tangled up in his own webs when sharp bursts of air cut them like butter.

Napali took a shard of ice from a shattered Ice Ball and plummeted down.

JJ freed himself, webbing around him protecting him from the worst of Silver Wind.

Napali plucked the shard out of her wing and on prompting from Misty took the fight to close quarters.

In the hail of silvery pollen, JJ didn’t know where to go or what to attack. Maddox was too frozen to say anything.

Sealeo tapped out after enduring Napalis angry pecking - Misty won.

Dustox took time to aim his next bursts of air, hitting JJ, yellow fur staining red. Maddox jumped in without even pressing the forfeit button, too worried about her friend.

Misty talked about the need to be versatile.

Maddox sat outside the closed door of the medical room, numb and still as a statue.

Misty was looking towards her next battle and what challenge it would bring her and her team.

Maddox silently vowed to never let JJ anywhere near a battle arena ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Communication! Who would have thought it's important?  
> With the Pokemon Coalition stuff - Trainers take place of an army.That's why they have so much funding for free stuff. It's not as sinister as it seems, unless a serious war would be going on, minors would not be involved on in it as soldiers.  
> I was uncertain if the punishement should be longer or not, but settled on this, since I don't want them to spend too much time in Arylide. Also - minors, easy to startle flock and nothing actually happened, thanks to Misty.  
> I enjoy writing battles, but they tend to take up a lot of writing space. As it would be three battles in succesion, I felt it would quickly become boring, and decided to try different styles of writing events.


End file.
